Sources: Devin Nunes Memo Is ‘100%’ Wrong About Andrew McCabe and Steele Dossier
Rep. Devin Nunes’ just-released surveillance memo claims that one of its central points about surveillance abuse at the FBI was affirmed by a senior FBI official. But two knowledgeable sources say the memo fundamentally mischaracterizes the official’s still-secret testimony.
Andrew McCabe, a frequent Donald Trump target, announced this week that he has relinquished his duties as deputy FBI director, accelerating his timetable for departure. The White House says Trump played no role in McCabe’s decision, though Trump’s son has tweeted that McCabe was fired .
The memo, released on Friday against FBI objections and with Trump’s approval, makes a particular claim against McCabe. In its attempt to claim that ex-British spy Christopher Steele’s salacious dossier played a central role in the surveillance of Trump aides – a claim the memo’s own admissions undermine – the memo claims that McCabe told the House intelligence committee that Steele was a pillar of information for a surveillance warrant application.
“Deputy Director McCabe testified before the Committee in December 2017 that no surveillance warrant would have been sought from the FISC without the Steele dossier information,” the memo claims, referring to the secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
Asked if that was a true representation, a source familiar with McCabe’s testimony responded: “100% not.”
A senior Democratic House intelligence committee official agreed.
“The Majority purposefully mischaracterizes both what is actually contained in the FISA applications and the testimony of former FBI Deputy McCabe before our committee in December 2017 – the Minority’s memo lays out the full facts,” the official said.
The Democratic minority memo remains classified. Democrats lost an internal committee vote on Monday to declassify it, prompting ranking Democrat Adam Schiff to blast committee Republicans for hypocrisy in citing the need for transparency as motivating release of the Nunes memo.
The FBI declined comment on McCabe’s testimony.
The bureau on Wednesday attacked the memo as fundamentally misleading, saying Nunes’ document reflected “material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy .” After the memo’s release, the FBI said its criticism stands.
McCabe became a GOP target owing to his wife’s unsuccessful bid as a Democrat for Virginia state senate in 2015. She received money from close Hillary Clinton ally Terry McAuliffe, then Virginia’s governor. McCabe, according to FBI documents, took steps to minimize conflicts of interest when he later came to oversee the Clinton email server probe. It was reported this week that McCabe’s departure was partially prompted by criticisms contained within a n unreleased Justice Department inspector general’s probe of the FBI’s Clinton investigation.
Representatives for Nunes and Mike Conaway, the top Republican on the committee’s Russia probe before which McCabe testified, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Democrats on the committee say that McCabe's testimony does not say that only the dossier was used to seek the warrant.
We will find it out when the Democrat memo is released.
Based on past history Nunes will be seen to be a liar once again.
That's not what the Nunes memo claims McCabe said.
Come on Dianne Feinstein!! Trump will never authorize the release, so it is time for another "release" by Feinstein.
What source?
But of course he did. Do you expect him to support Nunes?
Bruce, Nunes is a disgraced Trump stooge who collaborated with the White House in the "unmasking" affair. That is why he had to recuse himself from the "Russia" probe, because he had disgraced himself acting as a Trump lackey. He has no credibility.
The Democrats say that he misrepresents McCabe's testimony, which you used as part of your proof that the Nunes memo is accurate.
We will find out when the Democrat memo is released.
So we are supposed to rely on the word of democrats like Adam Schiff, who is picture of a partisan stooge? Democats who've spent the last week claiming this summary of material that was largely already publicly known, would destroy the country?
As liberal law professor Johnathon Turley states:
" However, my greatest concern is what is not in the dossier: classified information “jeopardizing national security.” Leaders like Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) declared that the committee had moved beyond “dangerous irresponsibility and disregard for our national security” and “disregarded the warnings of the Justice Department and the FBI.”
Now we can read the memo . There is a sharp and alarming disconnect between the descriptions of Pelosi and the House Intelligence Committee’s Ranking Minority Member Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and the actual document. It clearly does not contain information that would reveal sources or methods."
The Democrats have been just as dishonest as you claim Republicans to be about this memo so far.
John. I don't believe a fucking thing coming from The Daily Beast, skirting the CoC [ph]
10 months ago
Devin Nunes’s dumb stunt is falling apart and he is pulling the White House down with him.
Nunes, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, has been under fire recently for declaring that he had information from an anonymous source claiming that the government “incidentally” collected some of the Trump team’s communications before the inauguration. It sure looked like Nunes was providing political cover for the president , who had claimed that Barack Obama had “wiretapped” Trump Tower—a claim that everyone (including Nunes!) has acknowledged is bunk.
Nunes, who rushed to the White House with this information, refused to disclose who his sources were. But then it was reported that he had made a secret trip to the White House the night before his infamous press conference. Was the White House his source? Nunes tried to downplay this revelation, saying that he was indeed meeting his sources there, but that he only chose the White House because he needed a secure location (this is not a great excuse—the Capitol building would have worked just as well). This possible collusion was a pretty bad look for Nunes, who is supposed to be leading an independent investigation of the Trump campaign’s alleged ties to Russian government.
Today, the New York Times reported that two White House officials helped provide Nunes with information: Ezra Cohen-Watnick, senior director for intelligence at the National Security Council, and Michael Ellis, national security lawyer at the White House Counsel’s Office and Nunes’s former staffer . Interestingly enough, Donald Trump recently personally overruled H.R. McMaster, his national security adviser, to save Cohen-Watnick’s job . (Cohen-Watnick was a Michael Flynn hire.)
Oh he was disgraced alright.
Sean, what do you think? Did the White House write today's memo, like they did last time?
Interesting. Then why did the Nunes classify it Top Secret?
Skirting the CoC [ph]
Speak for yourself.
I hope you agree that since the Nunes memo cited undisclosed testimony, the Intel Committee now needs to release the transcript of the closed hearing so we can see for ourselves. Transparency right?
Abso-Fucking-Lutly! Release it ALL!
We may not have to wait long. Perhaps the Minority memo will actually QUOTE McCabe from the transcript instead of merely 'characterizing' his statement.
Well, I guess knowledgeable unnamed sources is a step up from your garden variety unnamed sources.
Aw C'mon. In order to be 100% with DJT, one has to be 100% wrong. Nunes is batting 1.000.