Day: February 2, 2018

That was fast. It’s almost like it was coordinated or something. From Axios:

The Tea Party Patriots, a conservative activist group, is launching an advertising campaign calling on Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to “do his job, or resign.”

The full memo is here.

Early reactions.

One bit in our story today: When John Kelly showed Trump the memo, he warned him that the document was not as compelling as some of its advocates had promised Trump. https://t.co/YxtpCZ450S

— Josh Dawsey (@jdawsey1) February 2, 2018

My reaction to #NunesMemo: THAT'S IT? Vast majority of this was already publicly known, memo itself omits that Fusion GPS started its work for Republicans, and NOTHING IN HERE MERITS CRITICISM OF ROSENSTEIN who is mentioned only once and in passing. This is a complete sham.

— Norm Eisen (@NormEisen) February 2, 2018

I read both memos & @realDonaldTrump is lying. Also, here's the leadership of @FBI / DOJ:
-Rosenstein, a Republican appointed twice by GOP Presidents
-Wray, a Republican who gave $39k exclusively to GOP candidates
-Brand, a Republican who gave $37k exclusively to GOP candidates https://t.co/SubAfevAIG

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) February 2, 2018

1/2 Statement from FBIAA President Tom O'Connor (@tfoconnor83): “The men and women of the FBI put their lives on the line every day in the fight against terrorists and criminals because of their dedication to our country and the Constitution."

— FBI Agents Assoc. (@FBIAgentsAssoc) February 2, 2018

LOL this memo. Shorter Nunes: “LEAVE CARTER PAGE ALONE!”

— ana marie cox (@anamariecox) February 2, 2018

the acrostic "THE PEE TAPE IS REAL" in the memo is intriguing

— Atrios (@Atrios) February 2, 2018

Wait. So this entire memo is just about renewing approval to continue surveillance on Carter Page, the most obviously compromised man in all this?

Aahahahhahahhahahahahahhaha!

— Kumail Nanjiani (@kumailn) February 2, 2018

Not surprising since he probably dictated it to Nunes.

President Trump approved release Friday of a GOP memo alleging surveillance abuses by the FBI, intensifying a fight between the White House and Republican lawmakers, on one side, and the nation’s top law enforcement agency over whether the origins of a probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election were tainted by political bias.

The FBI and the Justice Department had lobbied strenuously against the memo’s release. In a statement Wednesday, the FBI had said it was “gravely concerned” that key facts were missing from the memo, which, it said, left an inaccurate impression of how the agency conducted surveillance under the authority of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.

Friday morning, the president tweeted in anticipation of the memo’s release, saying: “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.’’ He added: “Rank & File are great people!”