Following President Trump’s block (due to sources and methods needing to be redacted), and Rep Adam Schiff’s admission that the Democratic Party memo (rebuttal of the GOP memo) also needed to be redacted further, House Intelligence Committee Democrats have released their memo countering the GOP document that alleged surveillance abuses in the Justice Department and FBI.
Key counterarguments are as follows:
1. The Steele Dossier was not the catalyst for launching the Trump-Russia probe
2. The rationale for surveilling Carter Page was carefully weighed.
3. The Nunes memo used classified information selectively and included distortions and misrepresentations
4. Papadopoulos’ role as the original catalyst for the Trump-Russia investigation outlined.
5. DOJ’s FISA application was carefully vetted and wasn’t used to spy on Trump or his campaign
6. Steele’s information about Page’s contacts with Kremlin insiders like Sechin was consistent with Papadopoulos information
As The Hill reports, the Democratic memo, which can be viewed in its entirety below, claims to “correct the record” on what the Democrats say is a “transparent effort to undermine” the FBI and Justice Department, as well as the Russia investigations, on the part of the committee’s GOP members.
The White House has releases a statement that President Trump supported the release of the memo.
Full Democratic Rebuttal Memo below:
via Zero Hedge http://ift.tt/2F5y9eA Tyler Durden