Day 379: Disgrace.

Friday, February 2, 2018

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1/ Trump approved the release of the Nunes memo after first attacking both the FBI and the Justice Department in an early-morning tweet. He accused them of having "politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats." The memo, whic...

Visit WTF Just Happened Today? for more news and headlines, brought to you by Matt Kiser. The WTFJHT Podcast is narrated and produced by Joe Amditis.

Friday, February 2, 2018

Subscribe: Get the Daily Update in your inbox for free

1/ Trump approved the release of the Nunes memo after first attacking both the FBI and the Justice Department in an early-morning tweet. He accused them of having "politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats." The memo, which alleges anti-Trump bias at the FBI and DOJ, was approved for release without the redactions that the FBI and the Justice Department had lobbied for. The House Intelligence Committee then made the memo public. Trump told reporters, "I think it's a disgrace what's happening in our country … A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves and much worse than that." (New York Times / Washington Post)

The top Leadership and Investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans - something which would have been unthinkable just a short time ago. Rank & File are great people!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 2, 2018

The tl;dr

The memo didn't provide the evidence to support the claim that the FBI abused its surveillance power under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act during the 2016 campaign leading to "a troubling breakdown of legal processes established to protect the American people from abuses related to the FISA process."

The memo also doesn't provide all the evidence the FBI and Justice Department used to obtain the initial warrant to surveil Carter Page, the former Trump campaign adviser.

The memo confirms that actions taken by George Papadopoulos, the former Trump foreign policy adviser, were a factor in the opening of the investigation. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty last year to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russians.

Memo actually confirms a timeline not favorable to Trump:
1. Counterintelligence probe opened in July 2016 by FBI because of George P./Wikileaks/emails.
2. FISA application on Carter Page obtained late Oct. 2016, after Page had left Trump campaign.

— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) February 2, 2018

Sean Hannity advised Trump on the memo all week. Trump reportedly had several phone calls with Hannity over the last few weeks, reinforcing Trump's determination to release the memo to the public. (The Daily Beast)

Comey praised the FBI in a tweet for speaking up against "weasels and liars". He called on more leaders in the government to do the same. (The Hill)

All should appreciate the FBI...

Visit WTF Just Happened Today? for more news and headlines, brought to you by Matt Kiser. The WTFJHT Podcast is narrated and produced by Joe Amditis.