Memo: FBI Used Tainted Steele Dossier, Paid For By Hillary Clinton, As Reason To Spy On Trump
FBI Scandal: The controversial congressional memo that alleges abuse of the government's surveillance program has now been released to the public. A close reading of the four-page document reveals potentially damning evidence that the FBI and Department of Justice used an anti-Trump dossier funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign as the basis for spying on the Trump campaign.
GOP members of the House Intelligence Committee, led by Chairman Devin Nunes, released the declassified memo Friday, but only after President Trump's approval and after both DOJ and FBI protested release of the document, which served as the backbone of the government's investigation into alleged collusion in the 2016 presidential campaign between the Trump campaign and the Russian government.
Not surprisingly, President Trump had an immediate hot take for his Twitter feed: "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!"
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The memo's findings are, at minimum, disturbing and, at worst, suggest the law was broken. Assuming the memo's factual accuracy, it paints an unflattering picture of the Obama-era FBI and Justice Department and their conduct in investigating the Trump campaign. To wit:
The DOJ and FBI asked for and received approval from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to spy on Carter Page, a fringe volunteer adviser to the Trump campaign on energy and foreign policy. The basis for the approval was the now-famous "dossier" on Donald Trump compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele, who was working for the Fusion GPS political research firm. The dossier's contents were used multiple times as grounds for surveilling Page, with then-FBI Director James Comey signing his name to three, and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe signing off on one. It was a group effort: Then-acting Deputy Attorney Generals Sally Yates and Dana Boente, along with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, all signed off on one or more of the requests.
Steele was paid $160,000 to create the Trump dossier for Fusion GPS. The Hillary Clinton presidential campaign and Democratic National Committee financed the work. So the FBI and Justice Department used opposition research from a presidential campaign to launch an investigation into that campaign's political opponent — a likely illegal use of federal government surveillance for political purposes.
The FBI also agreed to pay Steele for his dossier and other research, but rescinded the offer in October of 2016, shortly before the presidential election, after discovering that Steele had shared the dossier's contents with journalists in a number of briefings, a violation of FBI rules. But neither the FBI nor Justice informed FISC that the information had in fact been paid for by the Democrats, which would have immediately raised doubts about the surveillance request's legitimacy.
Steele, the memo claims, continued to talk to the Justice Department even after he was cut loose by the FBI through then-Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr. Ohr is key, since he worked closely with both Yates and Rosenstein and was a potential conduit into then-Attorney General Loretta Lynch's office. More importantly, perhaps, Ohr's wife, Nellie, is a former CIA researcher who was hired by Fusion GPS to collect anti-Trump material.
According to the memo, Steele relayed to Ohr that he was "desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being president." None of that, apparently, was told to FISC when Justice and the FBI made their requests to spy on the Trump campaign.
The supposed justification for the application to FISC was a September 23, 2016 Yahoo News article by journalist Michael Isikoff purportedly detailing ties between Trump campaign representatives and Russian officials. The only problem is, Isikoff got all of his information from Steele's so-called Trump dossier.
Let us stipulate that this memo is itself a partisan product of a Republican-dominated committee of Congress. Democrats, for their side of the matter, have their own memo and claim that essential facts have been omitted from the GOP's. But none of the central facts of the memo, so far, have been disproved.
Being charitable, it's possible to conclude that, during an intensely contentious presidential campaign, Obama administration Justice and FBI officials innocently sought FISA warrants against a peripheral Trump campaign volunteer based on a document they knew — or should have known — was paid for by Hillary Clinton and the DNC. And that their decisions later to withhold information from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court were equally innocent of any malicious political intent.
Even if you grant that very generous reading of the facts laid out in the memo, it's clear there was at minimum a conflict of interest and, possibly, a violation of the 1939 Hatch Act, which forbids federal employees from political activities while on the job. If that weren't the case, why would a spate of Justice and FBI officials — including McCabe and Ohr — be either demoted, reassigned or let go in recent weeks?
Yet, former FBI Chief James Comey, apparently vying for Twitter dominance over Trump, tweeted out: "That's it? Dishonest and misleading memo wrecked the House intel committee, destroyed trust with Intelligence Community, damaged relationship with FISA court, and inexcusably exposed classified investigation of an American citizen. For what? DOJ & FBI must keep doing their jobs."
Well, Comey's disingenuous "That's it?" includes the FBI colluding with a political party against another, while withholding material information from a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court about the source of its information and how it was paid for. Ethically questionable, certainly; illegal, quite possibly.
The House Intelligence Committee's Democrats, in a statement, also criticized the memo: "The premise of the Nunes memo is that the FBI and DOJ corruptly sought a FISA warrant on a former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, Carter Page, and deliberately misled the court as part of a systematic abuse of the FISA process ... The FBI had good reason to be concerned about Carter Page and would have been derelict in its responsibility to protect the country had it not sought a FISA warrant."
Claims that release of this memo was inappropriate or dangerous are absurd. No intelligence methods were revealed. No big secrets, just the facts of an investigation that has gone on too long and has been used by political opponents and their Deep State allies to weaken a presidency. And it certainly calls into question the tortuous, now year-and-a-half long investigation into alleged Trump-Russia collusion during the 2016 election, spearheaded by former FBI chief Robert Mueller.
As always with these issues, it's useful to imagine turning it all on its head: That instead of Republicans, the Democrats had been spied upon; that a Republican presidential candidate had funded the research on which the spying was based; and that it was all part of a deep-dive investigation, again, instigated by the Republicans to tie the Democrats to various Russian officials and their efforts to subvert a U.S. election.
We would be told the nation was in grave danger. They would call it a silent coup. The liberal media would jump in. They would call it highly questionable and possibly illegal. And you know what? They might be right.
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FBI Scandal: McCabe's Resignation Is Only The Beginning https://www.investors.com/politics/editorials/memo-fbi-used-tainted-steele-dossier-paid-for-by-hillary-clinton-as-reason-to-spy-on-trump/
You have seemed to conveniently omitted that the dossier was originally funded by the GOP and picked up by the DEMs at a later time. The memo is meaningless sans all the information, perhaps if the DEMs are allowed their version one may be able to draw an intelligent rather than an emotional conclusion. Without that it is nothing more than the usual blah, blah, blah.
Just attempting to include all of the facts, perhaps something a bit novel.
I hate to be the one to bust your balloon, but that statement is 100% FALSE:
"There is no evidence that a Republican donor or Republican campaign was ever involved with the Russian dossier. Fusion GPS claimed to reporters (though they did not provide evidence) that a Republican funded separate opposition research on Trump, dealing with his business interests. But as the Washington Post itself reports, the dossier did not exist until after the Democrats hired Fusion GPS :
"Marc E. Elias, a lawyer representing the Clinton campaign and the DNC, retained Fusion GPS, a Washington firm, to conduct the research.
After that, Fusion GPS hired dossier author Christopher Steele, a former British intelligence officer with ties to the FBI and the U.S. intelligence community, according to those people, who spoke on the condition of anonymity."
I think I know where you may have got that idea. Back when Donald Trump became a leading candidate in the Republican Primary there was opposition research (not the "dossier") obtained by a certain "never Trump" Republican source. Somehow the media managed to conflate the two things.
Representatives for the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative online news site, informed congressional investigators Friday the outlet had originally funded the research firm that created the salacious dossier containing allegations of ties between Donald Trump's campaign and Russian operatives, the publication said in a statement.
I suppose we might ask, which is correct.
You should do some research:
That the GOP were the initiators of this piece of faux garbage has no bearing on anything. It was Hillary and corrupt Obama holdovers in the FBI and DOJ who decided to weaponize it and attempt to discredit Trump with it. The Democrats can release or leak their "version" at any time if they so choose, but they can't deny the truth contained in the Nunes memo.
As we can see, this did not work out well for the left wingers, and they will pay for it in the upcoming midterms. The released memo was just the beginning and we can probably expect another Special Investigator to get to the bottom of the Democrat's sordid mess. This whole kerfuffle has hopelessly tainted the Mueller witchhunt since it was formed based on a worthless fake dossier.
Not only has it no bearing, it's not true.
The Democrats can release or leak their "version" at any time if they so choose, but they can't deny the truth contained in the Nunes memo.
Actually, the only thing holding up the democratic response is that their memo must be vetted, just like the Nunes memo was. They know that, liars that they are.
The released memo was just the beginning and we can probably expect another Special Investigator to get to the bottom of the Democrat's sordid mess.
Yup, you got that right!
Yes, it is.
Memo: FBI Used Tainted Steele Dossier, Paid For By Hillary Clinton, As Reason To Spy On Trump
If any of you Putin sycophants bothered to read the actual memo, YOU'D KNOW THAT IT DISCREDITS IT'S OWN ALLEGED PREMISE!
The memo confirms that the Steele dossier was not the basis for the broader investigation into Trump and Russia.
But the memo doesn’t just fail to discredit the investigation into the Trump campaign — it actually confirms its validity. The core of the GOP’s argument against the Mueller probe has been that it was based on unsubstantiated allegations gathered by a Clinton operative. The memo suggests this might be true of the Carter Page warrant — but not of the broader investigation.
You are making a few claims here that need to be taken one at a time. BTW you don't need the large print, what you say is not documentary.
First off is this:
"The Memo Confirms That The Steele Dossier Was Not The Basis For The Broader Investigation Into Trump And Russia."
Obviously, your article from the "New Yorker" is looking at all this from the perspective of how the Nunes Memo influences the Mueller investigation. I really don't think it should be viewed that way but any influence it would have would be of the public's perception. Now onto your claim that the "Dossier" was not the basis for the broader (Mueller) investigation. Let us assume that you are right. What about the integrity of the process? Now that I think about it, I recall liberals during the Bush Presidency claiming it was all too easy to get a FISA warrant. Now, more recently they claimed that it is a meticulous process that would prevent the actual abuse which the FBI committed with the "dossier. What about the rights of Carter Page? Don't progressives care about civil liberties? Cant you agree that this matter deserves some oversight?
Here is what your "New Yorker" writer admitted:
"The memo’s more compelling charge is that the FBI did present corroborating evidence for the Steele dossier’s claims — but that said evidence consisted primarily of a Yahoo News article that was based on information leaked by Christopher Steele. If this is true — and if the Steele dossier and Yahoo News article really did constitute the entirety of the FBI’s case — then it appears that the Bureau misled the FISA court, and an American citizen was unfairly subjected to state surveillance."
Now onto the "broader investigation". Here is the new progressive narrative:
"THE MEMO reveals that the counterintelligence investigation of Trump's campaign was, in fact, launched by Peter Strzok as a result of the PAPADOPOULOS information -- not the dossier."
This evidence may be as disingenuous as the "Steele Dossier". The fact that some flake wanna-be named Papadopoulos got drunk one night in an Australian bar and babbled something about having dirt on Hillary Clinton via Wikileaks (public knowledge) seems to be just one more indication of bias within the FBI/DOJ. Then they perjury trapped Papadopoulos in order to use him to garner some information on collusion, which they obviously didn't have then and don't have now.
It would seem to me that the Nunes Memo was authentic. And it wont be the last report from Devin Nunes.
It's just the beginning.
I also noticed this little gem in the now infamous Nunes memo (in part A):
"Steele should have been terminated for his previous undisclosed contacts with Yahoo and other outlets in September—before the Page application was submitted to the FISC in October—but Steele improperly concealed from and lied to the FBI about those contacts."
Question: If lying to the FBI is such a serious criminal offense, why wasn't Steele ever prosecuted the way that Michael Flynn was?
After all the FBI held an interview with Flynn to ask him questions about matters they already knew - a classic FBI perjury trap, but it seems the agency is very fussy about who they do it to. As a matter of fact, one of the most glaring examples of FBI hypocrisy is the contrast in how the Clinton e-mail investigation was conducted and how the Mueller investigation is conducted. I dont thing any of this is being missed by the American public.
That's simple: Steele was doing work for the Clintons and the DNC. Flynn was working for Trump.
Sadly, true
Question: If lying to the FBI is such a serious criminal offense, why wasn't Steele ever prosecuted the way that Michael Flynn was?
As a non-citizen he is not in a U.S. jurisdiction. I may be wrong but I don't think Steele can be prosecuted by the DoJ.
I see, an important technicality, it's sort of like if the is FBI fraudulently using a false document to get a warrant means everybody under investigation walks.
Very interesting article on the 'American Greatness' website by Chris Buskirk.
T he FISA Abuse Memo is out and now we know why the Democrats were desperate to keep its contents hidden from the public: it confirms the worst fears not just of President Trump’s supporters but of everyone concerned about the abuse of police power, government corruption, and the sanctity of our elections.
The memo shows interference in the 2016 presidential election by hostile elements within a United States intelligence agency. It wasn’t the Russians we had to worry about—it was rogue actors at the highest levels of the FBI and Department of Justice. Left unanswered is to what extent the West Wing knew about or was complicit in this gross abuse of power.
What we now know:
What we don’t know yet:
We now know that almost every accusation leveled against the president with regard to so-called “Russian collusion” actually reflects the actions of what amounts to a cabal of Democratic Party operatives working with FBI and Justice Department fellow-travellers.
Among other things, it has become clear that Rod Rosenstein must resign. He was either complicit in the conspiracy to mislead the FISA Court or he was too dumb to see what was happening. Either way, he’s demonstrated criminality, incompetence, or both and needs to go.
The picture painted by the Nunes memo is one of federal law enforcement officials who believe they are a wholly independent power, accountable to no one but themselves, and able to pick winners and losers in elections.
Based on what we know now, the conspiracy to undermine candidate Trump and later to destroy President Trump may have been limited to the Justice Department and FBI. That would be bad enough—and a serious threat to representative government striking, as it does, at the efficacy of our elections—but it may also have extended to the West Wing where U.N. Ambassador Samantha Power and National Security Adviser Susan Rice, at a minimum, used “national security” as a rationale to insert themselves into the election. This must also be the subject of investigation. And what of Ben Rhodes and his vaunted media echo chamber ? It seems to have played a role as well. How many journalists either were duped or were complicit?
Nearly 50 years ago, the Watergate scandal forced a president from office. The Left thought it could do it again. But the Nunes memo—and the millions of documents and hundreds of hours of interviews behind it—makes clear that rogue elements within the FBI and Justice Department broke the law in an attempt to use the police power of the United States government first to throw the election to Hillary Clinton and then to destroy the presidency of Donald Trump.
This cannot stand. There must be consequences. And they must be swift, public, and severe.
Finally the proof that Hillary used Russian operatives to smear Trump.
Also in the memo is irrefutable proof that Hillary consigned the aid of Nazis from Argentina to sew discontent in the American electorate.
The memo also clearly proves that Hillary is in league with Lucifer and committed heresy by impugning The Trump was not delivered onto us by God.
Nunes and his brave allies deserve to made an edifice on Mt. Rushmore.
For all the criticism of Trump getting away with shooting somebody in broad daylight the left certainly gives Hillary a pass on anything no matter how much evidence. I notice you couldn't actually refute any claims from the memo.
Except I just did. Pay attention.
I downloaded the memo this morning, and in between intermittent interweb outages, have read it twice so far. I find it a rather inane piece of work.
NUNES MEMO ACCIDENTALLY CONFIRMS THE LEGITIMACY OF THE FBI’S INVESTIGATION
The memo claims that Steele’s dossier is not reliable because an opposition research firm, Fusion GPS, hired Steele after receiving payments from a law firm connected to the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee. Fusion GPS’s clients for its Trump research, however, were not limited to partisan Democratic Party concerns: The firm began its research into Trump at the behest of the Washington Free Beacon, a right-wing news website that initially opposed Trump’s insurgent campaign.
A Timeline of the House Intelligence Committee Chairman: All the Nunes That’s Fit to Print
As far as I am concerned, NSA and FISA both be should be dismantled.
I am still waiting for the evidence behind the memo to be revealed. The memo itself is nothing more than commentary by a Trump transition team member.