President Trump claimed that the controversial Nunes Memo that was released yesterday proves that there has been no collusion between the Trump campaign and members of the Russian government. “This memo totally vindicates ‘Trump’ in probe,” the president wrote.
This memo totally vindicates “Trump” in probe. But the Russian Witch Hunt goes on and on. Their was no Collusion and there was no Obstruction (the word now used because, after one year of looking endlessly and finding NOTHING, collusion is dead). This is an American disgrace!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2018
The memo raises questions about the methods that the FBI and DOJ used to obtain FISA warrants to spy on Carter Page, a former foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign. The main allegation in the memo is that the FBI used information contained in the Steele dossier, that was uncorroborated, as the basis for FISA applications used to obtain warrants against Page.
The FBI maintains that information passed from a foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, George Papadopoulos, about offers of Russian help, to an Australian diplomat was, in turn, passed to U.S. authorities, served as the origin for the FBI interest in the Trump campaign.
The FBI, DOJ and congressional Democrats, have assailed the memo’s accuracy, which has become a lightning rod in American politics. Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, where the Republican memo originated, have written their own memo which they claim refutes many of the claims made in the original. A vote on whether to make that memo public is scheduled for Monday in the Committee.