Republicans release memo alleging FBI, DOJ improperly spied on Trump campaign aide

Erin Kelly | USA TODAY

Show Caption Hide Caption Nunes memo: FBI, Justice Department abused surveillance The controversial Nunes memo is out. It claims the FBI and the Justice Department abused their surveillance authority on Trump's 2016 Presidential campaign. Democrats say the memo is misleading.

WASHINGTON — President Trump on Friday approved the release of a controversial memo alleging the FBI and Justice Department abused their surveillance authority to target Trump campaign adviser Carter Page in 2016.

The Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Devin Nunes of California, who had staff write the memo, made it public within minutes. Read the memo here.

The president repeated his charges of bias by investigators after signing off on the memo's release.

"I think it’s a disgrace,” Trump told reporters. "A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves."

Trump had tweeted earlier Friday that "the top Leadership and Investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans."

Democrats have denounced the memo as a blatant attempt by Trump and House Republicans to discredit special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. They said they will push to have their rebuttal memo — which has so far been blocked by the Republican majority — made public next week.

The GOP memo alleges that top law enforcement officials relied on an unsubstantiated dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele to get a warrant to conduct surveillance of Page, who had served on the campaign's foreign policy advisory team.

The dossier was funded by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign to look into Trump's ties to Russia; the Nunes memo alleges that the FBI knew of the partisan agenda behind the dossier but did not alert the surveillance court.

Democrats responded that the dossier was neither the only nor the critical piece of information the FBI used to get the warrant to surveil Page.

For instance, the Nunes memo does not note that the FBI’s interest in Page and his possible ties to Russia dated back to 2013 — three years before the surveillance order described in the memo. In the 2013 case, federal investigators were concerned that Page had been targeted by Russian intelligence agents for recruitment.

In a statement Friday, Page said: “The brave and assiduous oversight by congressional leaders in discovering this unprecedented abuse of process represents a giant, historic leap in the repair of American democracy."

The memo acknowledges that Page was not the first Trump campaign aide to spark an investigation related to Russian influence. The FBI began a counter-terrorism investigation of former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos in late July 2016 — several months before federal investigators first sought the warrant on Page on October 21st. Papadopoulos pleaded guilty last October to lying to the FBI and is cooperating with Mueller's investigation.

Among those who certified the applications for the initial warrant on Page and subsequent renewals were: former FBI Director James Comey, whom Trump fired last year; former Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who just retired; and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who is overseeing Mueller's investigation.

FBI has 'grave concerns' about accuracy of classified Nunes memo The FBI is adding its voice to the chorus of those opposed to the planned declassification of the so-called Nunes memo, expressing "grave concerns" over its accuracy. Nathan Rousseau Smith (@FantasticMrNate) reports.

Others included former Deputy Attorney General Sally Yates, who was also fired by Trump last year; and then-Acting Deputy Attorney General Dana Boente. In January, Boente became the new general counsel for the FBI.

Rosenstein is the only top official who hasn't been fired or taken a new job. Democratic leaders from the House and Senate sent a letter to Trump on Friday warning him not to use the partisan memo as a basis to fire Rosenstein or Mueller.

"Firing Rod Rosenstein, DOJ Leadership, or Bob Mueller could result in a constitutional crisis of the kind not seen since the Saturday Night Massacre," said the letter, which was signed by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., and eight others.

The Saturday Night Massacre is a reference to former president Richard Nixon's firing of Watergate Special Prosecutor Archibald Cox, which led to the resignations of Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus.

The memo released Friday was written by the Intelligence Committee's Republican staff, at Nunes' direction, summarizing information the committee has collected in its own investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election. Nunes has also indicated the committee is investigating the FBI's activities during the 2016 election cycle.

The committee sent the memo to the White House on Monday night, giving Trump time to decide whether to block its release.

The release puts Trump at odds with FBI Director Christopher Wray and Rosenstein, who had urged the White House not to release it for fear that it could reveal classified information and jeopardize national security.

Democrats on the committee have complained that the memo cherry-picks information designed to discredit the investigation into Russia's election interference and possible collusion with Trump associates. Mueller's probe is also looking into possible obstruction of justice by Trump in his efforts to limit the investigation. Nunes has been a close ally of Trump, and worked on the Trump transition after the election.

"The premise of the Nunes memo is that the FBI and DOJ corruptly sought a FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) warrant on a former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, Carter Page, and deliberately misled the court as part of a systematic abuse of the FISA process," said Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the committee's senior Democrat. "None of this is true. The FBI had good reason to be concerned about Carter Page and would have been derelict in its responsibility to protect the country had it not sought a FISA warrant."

Trump on memo: 'Lot of people should be ashamed' President Donald Trump says a newly declassified GOP memo alleging FBI abuses shows, "a lot of people should be ashamed of themselves." (Feb. 2)

Schiff said the investigation of Page did not arise from the infamous dossier, despite Republican claims to the contrary. "The investigation would persist on the basis of wholly independent evidence had Christopher Steele never entered the picture," Schiff said.

The FBI expressed "grave concerns" Wednesday about the memo's release, suggesting it is inaccurate.

"The FBI was provided a limited opportunity to review this memo the day before the committee voted to release it," the bureau said in a statement. "As expressed during our initial review, we have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy."

Nunes said Friday that his committee "has discovered serious violations of the public trust, and the American people have a right to know when officials in crucial institutions are abusing their authority for political purposes.

"It is my hope that the Committee’s actions will shine a light on this alarming series of events so we can make reforms that allow the American people to have full faith and confidence in their governing institutions."

FBI agents defended the bureau after the memo's release.

"The men and women of the FBI put their lives on the line every day in the fight against terrorists and criminals because of their dedication to our country and the Constitution," said Tom O'Connor, president of the FBI Agents Association. "FBI special agents have not, and will not, allow partisan politics to distract us from our solemn commitment to our mission."

"The memorandum raises serious concerns about the integrity of decisions made at the highest levels of the Department of Justice and the FBI to use the Government’s most intrusive surveillance tools against American citizens," White House spokesman Sarah Sanders said Friday.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said Friday that he has "great confidence in the men and women of this Department" but added that "no Department is perfect."

"Accordingly, I will forward to appropriate DOJ components all information I receive from Congress regarding this," Sessions said. "I am determined that we will fully and fairly ascertain the truth."

In a letter to Nunes last week, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd said the Department of Justice was "currently unaware of any wrongdoing" by the Department of Justice related to obtaining warrants to conduct surveillance of individuals.

The House Intelligence Committee is one of three congressional committees conducting its own Russia investigation.

Contributing: Kevin Johnson, David Jackson

More: Meet the key players in controversy over the Nunes memo on FBI surveillance

More: Five key claims in the Nunes memo on FBI surveillance of Trump campaign aide

More: Nunes memo release: What you need to know about the controversial document

More: Ex-FBI director James Comey on the Nunes memo: 'That's it?'