Ostensibly conservative NeverTrump news media figures scorned Friday’s release of a declassified House Intelligence Committee memo detailing alleged abuse by senior FBI and Justice Department officials.

The memo claims that in obtaining warrants to spy on an associate of Donald Trump under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), the FBI relied on the “Steele dossier” — an unverified document put together by opposition research firm Fusion GPS, which was funded by the Hillary Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee.

It further alleges the FBI hid the political origins of the dossier from the FISA court, and exaggerated its accuracy, though it was aware that the source, Christopher Steele, had political and financial motives.

Fusion GPS’s initial research on Donald Trump was funded, via the Washington Free Beacon, by billionaire Paul Singer, “a major funder of the #neverTrump campaign.”

So it is perhaps no surprise that the members of NeverTrump defended the dossier and attacked Friday’s memo.

MSNBC’s Rick Wilson, who markets himself as a “GOP Media Guy” on his Twitter profile, derided supporters of President Donald Trump as “mouthbreathers” while dismissing the memo’s revelations as unimportant.

Wow. This Nune memo is even less impressive than I thought. All these mouth-breathing idiots who called this worse than Watergate just got clowned. — Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) February 2, 2018

The Washington Post‘s Jennifer Rubin — who presents herself as belonging to the right — described the memo as a “nothingburger,” linking to a Friday-published op-ed of hers in which she advances the narrative of “Russian meddling in the 2016 election” as axiomatic.

everything you need to know about Nunes nothingburger, and why it hurts Trump. Is this guy not very bright?? https://t.co/sxcYSoNdIV — Jennifer Rubin (@JRubinBlogger) February 2, 2018

“There is no proof anything in the dossier was in fact false,” wrote Rubin, advancing an absence-of-evidence claim with respect to allegations against Trump within the “Christopher Steele dossier.”

“If Trump is not a Russian agent, he surely is acting as effectively as one,” concluded Rubin.

Newly-minted Washington Post columnist Max Boot joined his colleague Rubin in shifting the burden of proof for determining the veracity of allegations within the “Christopher Steele dossier.”

According to Boot, Trump must disprove allegations made against him by Christopher Steele.

The nonrevelation in Nunes memo: FISA application for Carter Page based in part on Christopher Steele’s work, and he was paid by DNC and anti-Trump. Big deal. Memo doesn’t impugn his actual info. And it confirms that Steele didn’t launch investigation. https://t.co/QbuqtafyqG — Max Boot (@MaxBoot) February 2, 2018

The New York Times‘ Bret Stephens described the memo as a “nothingburger” while linking to an article omitting all details of the memo’s allegations.

So now I know what a Nothingburger tastes like: https://t.co/zwdPdXNvl7 — Bret Stephens (@BretStephensNYT) February 2, 2018

Evidence exists of Carter Page’s “collaboration with Russian [intelligence],” claimed Evan McMullin, a former presidential candidate and key NeverTrump figure. He further described Fusion GPS founder Christopher Steele as a “trusted source and ally of the United States.”

It’s no surprise that the Nunes memo fails to acknowledge other evidence – in addition to the dossier – contained in the FISA applications for surveillance of Carter Page, the least of which would’ve been evidence of his collaboration with Russian intel even before the campaign. — Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) February 2, 2018

If the FISA applications failed to mention who funded Chris Steele’s research, perhaps they should have. Regardless, it would’ve been careless of law enforcement to have excluded such alarming national security information from such a trusted source and ally of the United States. — Evan McMullin (@Evan_McMullin) February 2, 2018

The Weekly Standard‘s editor-in-chief Stephen Hayes acknowledged “evidence of law enforcement bias [and] sloppiness” while framing Robert Mueller’s ostensible investigation as a legitimate and good faith endeavor in response to malevolent Russian state influence.

Quick initial thought: There’s disturbing evidence of law enforcement bias & sloppiness. But hard to see how this derails Mueller investigation, particularly as it confirms that FBI investigation began w/Papadapolous before FISA application targeting Page. #MemoDay — Stephen Hayes (@stephenfhayes) February 2, 2018

According to National Review‘s David French, the FBI’s “counterintelligence investigation” and surveillance of George Papadopoulos reinforces the narrative of Mueller’s ostensible “Russia investigation” as a legitimate and good faith endeavor.

Here’s potentially the most important paragraph in the memo. It appears to confirm the NYT’s scoop — which was that the counterintelligence investigation began BEFORE the FISA applications against Page. Papadopoulos was already under investigation. Wow: pic.twitter.com/VadOFVYAUH — David French (@DavidAFrench) February 2, 2018

In reflecting more on this, I think Nunes may have just blown up the core Trump defense to the “Russia investigation” — that it was all fruit of the poisonous Steel tree. Not true. It was already underway. https://t.co/gUvGgSUyY1 — David French (@DavidAFrench) February 2, 2018

Former ethics lawyer for George W. Bush Richard Painter – a new regular across MSNBC and CNN – cast Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA) as resembling a “Putin stooge,” adding that the “Cruz/Clinton funded dossier is probably true.”

The nonrevelation in Nunes memo: FISA application for Carter Page based in part on Christopher Steele’s work, and he was paid by DNC and anti-Trump. Big deal. Memo doesn’t impugn his actual info. And it confirms that Steele didn’t launch investigation. https://t.co/QbuqtafyqG — Max Boot (@MaxBoot) February 2, 2018

The Cruz/Clinton funded dossier is probably true.

Law enforcement uses such material from private sources to get warrants all the time.

FBI if anything handed the election to Trump in Oct. 2016.

The FBI and DOJ are run by Republicans appointed by Trump.https://t.co/Tt6DXTy063 — Richard W. Painter (@RWPUSA) February 2, 2018

MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough described Trump as waging a “war on justice while invoking Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal.

Donald Trump’s #WarOnJustice is weaponizes misleading memos, hyper-partisanship and naked lies to protect a president who is guilty as hell. #ObstructionOfJustice — Joe Scarborough (@JoeNBC) February 2, 2018

CNN’s Ana Navarro described the memo as a “partisan attack on law enforcement” by Nunes, Trump, and the broader Republican Party.

ABC’s Matthew Dowd, also an alumnus of George W. Bush’s administration, dismissed the memo as lacking credibility.

Until all other documentation is out including all back up resources, the #NunesMemo should be given the same weight and discussion one would give a press release from@GOPChairwoman . Move along until something substantive emerges. — Matthew Dowd (@matthewjdowd) February 2, 2018

The Atlantic‘s David Frum, another George W. Bush administration alumnus, mocked Trump supporters’ anticipations over the memo’s revelations.

Pro-Trump talkers finally read the fabled Nunes memo they hoped would save the day https://t.co/u914AXvFK7 — David Frum (@davidfrum) February 2, 2018

All of the above-featured news media personalities are marketed as conservatives across platforms they contribute to.

Follow Robert Kraychik on Twitter @rkraychik.