“EXCLUSIVE: Infowars has obtained and is now releasing the secret FISA memo,” conspiracy theorist Alex Jones blared on Twitter Tuesday. Jones thought he had a mysterious four-page document authored by Republican Congressman Devin Nunes, who leads the House Intelligence Committee. The memo purportedly proves that intelligence officials abused surveillance powers authorized under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in investigating Trump’s campaign ties to Russia.

Jones had not, in fact, obtained the Nunes memo. But that confusion, and the fuss over the memo more generally, demonstrate just how little the American public understands about how FISA actually works. That misunderstanding makes it easy for the law to be twisted for partisan purposes.

Republicans who have viewed the Nunes document will have you believe it’s incredibly explosive. Congressman Matt Gaetz said it’s “jaw-dropping,” and called for its public release. Representative Steve King said it was “worse than Watergate.” Over the past week, thousands of Americans—as well as likely bots linked to Russia—have flooded Twitter with the hashtag #ReleaseTheMemo. Wikileaks even pledged a $1 million reward to anyone who leaked the document to the organization. Everyone from Breitbart and Fox News to Mike Cernovich has talked about it ceaselessly.

'It’s easy to capitalize on Americans’ misunderstandings about the law for partisan purposes.' Elizabeth Goitein, Brennan Center for Justice

Nunes has successfully manufactured a controversy designed to undermine the Justice Department’s investigation into the Trump campaign’s connections to Russia, and he used FISA to do it. (This also isn't his first time.) The 1978 surveillance law is not only densely complicated, but operates via a secret court staffed by judges entirely appointed by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, making it a prime target for conspiracy theories.

“FISA is mysterious to most Americans. It’s a complex statutory scheme,” says Elizabeth Goitein, co-director of the Liberty and National Security program at New York University School of Law’s Brennan Center for Justice. “The government routinely puts out a lot of misleading descriptions of it. It’s easy to capitalize on Americans’ misunderstandings about the law for partisan purposes if someone wants to do that.”

The confusion over FISA has allowed Nunes and fellow Republicans to tell the public that intelligence officials abuse the law, while at the same time moving to expand its powers. Nunes, as well as Gaetz and King, all voted in favor of expanding surveillance authorities authorized under Section 702 of FISA earlier this month. They cast their votes while at the same time telling the public that FISA is terribly abused by the FBI and the Justice Department. So what’s really going on? Let’s start with Nunes’ memo.

Unlike the Alex Jones mix-up, the actual four-page document says, according to The New York Times, that intelligence officials improperly obtained a warrant to surveil Trump campaign advisor Carter Page, who is believed to be connected to Russia. Here’s where the mechanics of FISA come in.

Under Title 1 of the law, nicknamed “traditional FISA,” law enforcement must go before the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) to receive a warrant to surveil an individual or group of people. To get that warrant, law enforcement must show probable cause that a person is an agent of a foreign power. That means the government had to demonstrate Page was acting as an operative for Russia.

“When we talk about traditional FISA and we say someone has to get a court order based on probable cause,” says Goitein, “that means there has to be some sort of criminal activity, such as espionage, in order to qualify.”

Nunes’ memo reportedly alleges that to obtain their warrant, law enforcement officials relied on research from a dossier written by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele. Yes, that dossier, made public last year and subsequently revealed to be financed in part by the Democratic National Committee and Hillary Clinton’s campaign.