Tag Archives: Devin Nunes

The Hill reports: CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin slammed the release of a previously classified GOP memo alleging abuse of government surveillance powers by the Justice Department, calling it “an embarrassment” after its publication on Friday. “It is an absolute disgrace. It is an embarrassment to the United States Congress,” Toobin said on CNN’s “The Situation Room.” “It is part …

CNN Money reports: Wall Street just suffered the worst day of the Trump presidency. The Dow closed down 666 points, or 2.5%, its biggest percentage decline since the Brexit turmoil in June 2016 and steepest point decline since the 2008 financial crisis. A strong jobs report showed wage growth is finally starting to pick up. That’s great news for workers, …

The Associated Press reports: Former FBI Director James Comey scorned the memo that was released by House Republicans after being declassified Friday by President Donald Trump, saying it doesn’t add up to much. “That’s it?” Comey said on Twitter. “Dishonest and misleading memo wrecked the House intel committee, destroyed trust with Intelligence Community, damaged relationship with FISA court, and inexcusably …

Mediaite reports: Trey Gowdy seemed particularly eager to inform the country about the allegations that former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe sought a FISA warrant to investigate Trump in connection with Fusion GPS’ controversial dossier. Now that the memo is out, Gowdy has taken to Twitter to say that even though the memo raises certain questions, the bulk of the …

The Hill reports: NBC’s Chuck Todd said Friday that Fox News obtaining advance excerpts of a controversial memo written by House Intelligence Committee Republicans “smacks of a partisan exercise. “The House Republican Intelligence folks are actually making their partisan case look even worse right now, because they are releasing excerpts of the memo already to friendly media outlets, almost trying …

Via press release: “In 2016, the Russian government engaged in an elaborate plot to interfere in an American election and undermine our democracy. Russia employed the same tactics it has used to influence elections around the world, from France and Germany to Ukraine, Montenegro, and beyond. Putin’s regime launched cyberattacks and spread disinformation with the goal of sowing chaos and …

The Washington Post reports: The Nunes memo is a document created by the staff of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) that alleges the FBI abused its surveillance authority, particularly when it sought a secret court order to monitor a former Trump campaign adviser. The FBI and the Justice Department had lobbied strenuously against its release. On Wednesday, the …

Axios reports: White House aides recognize there could be a high cost to President Trump’s decision to allow — with no redactions — release of that classified memo about the Russian investigation. The White House plans to dress up the decision by arguing that it’s an action of “transparency.” But this puts President Trump publicly crossways with both the intelligence …

The Week reports: President Trump is expected to approve the release of a controversial Republican memo on Friday against the firm advice of the FBI. Despite rumors that the bureau’s director, Christopher Wray, might step down as a result, White House counselor Kellyanne Conway did not appear concerned on Friday during an appearance on Fox & Friends. “The president has …

CNN reports: Top White House aides are worried FBI Director Christopher Wray could quit if the highly controversial Republican memo alleging the FBI abused its surveillance tools is released, multiple sources with knowledge of the situation tell CNN. Wray has made clear he is frustrated that President Donald Trump picked him to lead the FBI after he fired FBI Director …

Talking Points Memo reports: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) on Thursday called on House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-WI) to remove Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) as chair of the House Intelligence Committee over his decision to edit the committee’s controversial memo before sending it to the White House for review. “The decision of Chairman Nunes and House Republicans to release …

The Washington Post reports: President Trump is expected to approve the release of a controversial congressional memo alleging surveillance abuses by the FBI, after the White House agreed to some redactions at the bureau’s request, according to senior administration officials. The redactions were the result of a review of the memo’s classified contents by White House and intelligence community officials, …

The Hill reports: Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) compared House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes’s (R-Calif.) move to make a memo on surveillance at the Department of Justice (DOJ) public to former Sen. Joseph McCarthy’s (R-Wis.) aggressive probe of suspected communists in the 1950s. “The release of this memo is really reminiscent of the darkest days of the McCarthy era, with …

Newsweek reports: The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee made “material changes” to a controversial memo before providing it to the White House to be considered for public release, according to the top Democrat on the committee. In a letter Wednesday night, Representative Adam Schiff, the Democratic ranking member of the committee, accused Representative Devin Nunes, its Republican chairman, of …

CNN reports: Emails obtained by CNN show the FBI agent at the center of a Capitol Hill storm played a key role in a controversial FBI decision that upended Hillary Clinton’s campaign just days before the 2016 election: the letter to Congress by then-FBI Director James Comey announcing the bureau was investigating newly discovered Clinton emails. The new revelation about …

Talking Points Memo reports: In a rare public statement, the FBI on Wednesday expressed “grave concerns” about the accuracy of a congressional Republican memo that purports to show anti-Trump prejudice among senior FBI and Justice Department officials. It’s extremely unlikely that the highly critical comment would be sent out without the approval of top Trump appointees at the FBI and …

Bloomberg reports: FBI Director Christopher Wray told the White House he opposes release of a classified Republican memo alleging bias at the FBI and Justice Department because it contains inaccurate information and paints a false narrative, according to a person familiar with the matter. The memo on actions early in the probe of Russian meddling in the 2016 campaign is …

Mike Allen reports at Axios: Jonathan Swan and I are told that President Trump has already made up his mind to release the memo, which he sees as vindication, despite Justice Department resistance. Trump believes it will solidify in the public’s mind that there’s a Deep State out to get him. Couple that fact with some genuinely troubling text messages …

The New York Times reports: Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, apparently disregarding Justice Department warnings that their actions would be “extraordinarily reckless,” voted Monday evening to release a contentious secret memorandum said to accuse the department and the F.B.I. of misusing their authority to obtain a secret surveillance order on a former Trump campaign associate. The vote threw fuel …

From the editorial board of the New York Times: In nearly every crime-caper movie there’s a shifty guy on the street corner who, seeing the cops in hot pursuit, flips over a fruit cart to slow them down and give the culprits a chance to get away. In Trump-era Washington, that role is being played with impressive conviction by Devin …