Mounting pressure on the US Justice Department probing the Russian meddling in the US elections case, the US President, Donald Trump has signed and released the controversial Russian Probes memo also known as the Nunes Memo containing alleged surveillance abuses of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
“I think it’s a disgrace. A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves,” Trump said in Oval Office after approving the memo’s release.
The memo allegedly shows the collusion between the Justice Department and the FBI and the Democratic Party to derail Trump’s election as President. The four-page memo was put together by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif), the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee.
It is not clear whether Trump will use the memo to fire people involved in the Russia probe. The list includes Deputy Attorney General, Rod J Rosenstein, who oversees it. When questioned by the media whether he was likely to fire Rosenstein after the release of the memo and whether he had confidence in him, Trump had replied, “You figure that one out.”
. @PeterAlexander reports Trump actually said “you figure that one out” when asked if he still had confidence in Dep AG Rosenstein.
Remember Rosenstein is in charge of Mueller investigation. Also Remember Trump appointed Rosenstein. https://t.co/8QkK2OOE77
— Katy Tur (@KatyTurNBC) February 2, 2018
Publicly, the FBI said nothing, but Director Christopher A Wray it is believed, sent out a video and written statement to employees urging them not to get distracted by the debate raging about them.
“The American people read the papers, and they hear lots of talk on cable TV and social media. But they see and experience the actual work you do — keeping communities safe and our nation secure, often dealing with sensitive matters and making decisions under difficult circumstances,” Wray said. “And that work will always matter more. Talk is cheap; the work you do is what will endure.”
In a rare public statement on Wednesday, the FBI had said: “We are gravely concerned that critical facts are missing from the documents and has painted an inaccurate picture of how the bureau sought approval to conduct surveillance in the probe.”
Trump had earlier accused top FBI officials and the US Justice Department of “politicising” the memo on the probe into Russian interference in the US elections.
The four-page document has become a flashpoint in a wider battle between the Republicans and Democrats over special counsel Robert Mueller’s criminal probe into potential collusion between Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign and Russia.
The probe grew out of the FBI’s Russia investigation after Trump fired FBI director James Comey and Attorney General Jeff Sessions recused himself from the investigation.
Russia has denied meddling in the election campaign and Trump has called Mueller’s probe a “political witch hunt”.
Former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) director James Comey has expressed his displeasure on the release of a controversial Nunes memo, containing alleged surveillance abuses of the agency.
“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,” Comey wrote on Twitter.
“For what? DOJ & FBI must keep doing their jobs,” he added.
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.
— James Comey (@Comey) February 2, 2018
Comey was abruptly fired by US President Donald Trump last year, which drew a lot of media flak.
The memo in question alleges that the FBI and Justice Department abused their surveillance authority to target Trump campaign adviser, Carter Page, local media said.
The outspoken Republican Senator John McCain called the “attacks” serving no American but, only Putin.
The latest attacks on the FBI and Department of Justice serve no American interests – no party’s, no president’s, only Putin’s. https://t.co/6dsbcBIla6
— John McCain (@SenJohnMcCain) February 2, 2018
The memo goes mainly after the Justice Department and FBI’s dependence on Christopher Steele, a former intelligence officer in Britain, who was supplying information to the FBI and the JD and his political motivation therein. Steele it is alleged had personal stake in discrediting Donald Trump as a presidential candidate. He was later dismissed by the FBI.
According to the memo, in September 2016, Steele acknowledged that he was “desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being president,” in a conversation with Bruce Ohr, a Justice Department official.
At the time, Steele was researching possible Trump ties to Russia for of Fusion GPS, a Washington-based firm that also hired Ohr’s wife to do Russia-related research. Fusion GPS was hired in 2015 by a conservative website funded by a GOP donor who wanted Trump’s business history researched.
In early 2016, Fusion GPS was rehired by a lawyer representing the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee to continue researching Trump. After the Democrats starting paying Fusion GPS, the firm hired Steele.
Current and former British officials who know Steele vouched for him, noting that he had provided vital information to the US and British governments in the past. His former boss at the British Secret Intelligence Service, Richard Dearlove, recalled Steele as a “good person of high integrity” with a sophisticated knowledge of Russia. After Steele leaving British government service in 2009, he became known as “one of the go-to people on Russia in the commercial sector,” Dearlove said.
Democrats warned against any dismissals at the Justice Department, saying such moves would trigger a constitutional crisis.