Now that both the GOP / Nunes memo and the Democratic / Schiff memo on the FBI, DOJ, and FISA warrants on Carter Page are out, here’s a quick summary of the salient points:
- FBI knew Page was being recruited by Russian intelligence since 2014.
- They had enough evidence to gain a FISA surveillance warrant in March 2016, near the time he was added to Trump campaign AND when the FBI was aware of Russian intelligence’s efforts to disrupt our election, BUT SIX MONTHS BEFORE THE STEELE DOSSIER.
- The FBI was unaware of Steele dossier in March and used NOTHING from it to get the initial FISA warrant.
- In September 2016 the FBI was made aware of Steele dossier.
- In October and three subsequent times FISA granted extensions, and in each a SMALL PART of the evidence used to get the warrant included some CORROBORATED charges from the dossier (not any UNCORROBORATED charges)
- In each petition for FISA, the FBI and DOJ noted that the small amount of info included from the dossier was from a source “likely intended to discredit the Trump campaign.”
- There was no attempt to cover up the political nature of the small amount of dossier info used, and only corroborated parts were used.
- We don’t know what information was collected from the FISA surveillance, but we do know Mueller has indicted 19 individuals so far in conjunction with Russia and the Trump campaign, and nowhere in public documents is there any evidence mentioned that came from the FISA surveillance – just like in the FISA warrant the dossier has played an extremely small roll, or none at all, and ONLY the parts corroborated by other sources.
So, why the big deal made of this by Trump & Nunes and the far-right GOP? The only answer that makes any sense, given that their memo had “material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy” is that it is an attempt to discredit any and ALL evidence against Trump, giving him cover for his “witch hunt” claims.
That is a pretty intense charge – that a sitting POTUS would undermine our entire justice system just to keep him and his family from legal jeopardy? Well, if that POTUS is Trump, there is plenty of evidence that is exactly what he would do. As Newsweek detailed in a story a few years ago, this behavior fits a lifetime pattern of Trump when he is in legal jeopardy.
#AmericaFirst? Seems very much like #TrumpFirst to me…
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Patrick On Politics 