Editors Comments:
Well the U.S. Govt memo has finally been released and the markets reacted prior to the release with the U.S.D. rising slightly and foreign currencies such as Cad. and JPY. plus precious metals selling off.
Following the advice of sell on the rumor and buy on the fact I have just loaded up on all three especially silver because I have a gut feeling this was just another Trump ploy to intimate the F.B.I. and take the pressure off him and his family who allegedly have conspired with Russia to rig the 2016 election.
Trump always releases news that he really dose not like on Fridays so that the press and markets are away and dont give it as much attention.
When you have Eight billion dollars (according to him) you can hire the best, attorneys in the world who probably advised the memo release which may in fact be way over rated and may be forgotten in the near future.
Then the F.B.I. may summon Trump to testify and he will probably ignore the summons
National Security
GOP memo criticizing FBI surveillance is released
Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes (R-CA) arrives for the State of the Union address on Capitol Hill on Jan. 30, 2018. (Joshua Roberts/Reuters)
By Devlin Barrett and Josh Dawsey February 2 at 12:19 PM Email the author
A GOP memo alleging surveillance abuses by the FBI has been released, intensifying a fight between the White House and Republican lawmakers, on one side, and the nation’s top law enforcement agency over whether the origins of a probe into Russian interference in 2016 were tainted by political bias.
President Trump had approved release of the memo without redactions Friday morning.
[Read the document]
The president told reporters in the Oval Office, “I think it’s a disgrace what’s happening in our country. A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves and much worse than that.”
The FBI and the Justice Department had lobbied strenuously against the memo’s release. In a statement Wednesday, the FBI had said it was “gravely concerned” that key facts were missing from the memo, which, it said, left an inaccurate impression of how the agency conducted surveillance under the authority of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
Friday morning, the president tweeted in anticipation of the memo’s release, saying: “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 - something which would have been unthinkable just a short time ago.’’ He added: “Rank & File are great people!”
Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, tweeted in response, “No, Mr. President it’s worse than that. The country’s top elected leader has agreed to selectively and misleadingly release classified info to attack the FBI — that’s what would have been unthinkable a short time ago.”
The memo has been the subject of intense debate in Congress, but the fight ratcheted up this week when the House Intelligence Committee voted along party lines to make the document public under a process that gives the president up to five days to block its release. The committee Republicans also voted not to release a Democratic rebuttal memo, saying they would allow that document to be made public in the future.
It is highly unusual for the White House and the FBI to be publicly at odds over a matter of national security, and it is unclear what impact the disagreement might have on the standing of FBI Director Christopher A. Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, two Trump appointees who went to the White House on Monday in an unsuccessful bid to urge that the memo not be released.
Law enforcement officials have expressed fear that Trump may try to use the memo’s release as justification to fire Rosenstein, who is overseeing Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III and the Russia interference probe.
The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) has accused the FBI of stonewalling lawmakers on matters related to the Russia probe for nearly a year.
“It’s clear that top officials used unverified information in a court document to fuel a counter-intelligence investigation during an American political campaign,” he said. “Once the truth gets out, we can begin taking steps to ensure our intelligence agencies and courts are never misused like this again.”
[Trump tells GOP lawmaker he’ll ‘100 percent’ release the memo]
The memo describes some of the details of how information from a British former spy named Christopher Steele, who compiled a controversial dossier of allegations against then-candidate Donald Trump, was used as part of an application to the FISA court to conduct surreptitious surveillance on Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser, according to people familiar with the matter.
The FBI statement said federal agents carefully adhere to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which provides a legal framework for national security investigations.
“The FBI takes seriously its obligations to the FISA Court and its compliance with procedures overseen by career professionals in the Department of Justice and the FBI,” the statement said. “We are committed to working with the appropriate oversight entities to ensure the continuing integrity of the FISA process.”
Current and former law enforcement officials said a major concern inside the FBI is that the rules governing classified information will impede their ability to respond to the memo’s accusations when it becomes public.
Philip Rucker contributed to this report.
By Devlin Barrett and Josh Dawsey February 2 at 12:19 PM Email the author
A GOP memo alleging surveillance abuses by the FBI has been released, intensifying a fight between the White House and Republican lawmakers, on one side, and the nation’s top law enforcement agency over whether the origins of a probe into Russian interference in 2016 were tainted by political bias.
President Trump had approved release of the memo without redactions Friday morning.
[Read the document]
The president told reporters in the Oval Office, “I think it’s a disgrace what’s happening in our country. A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves and much worse than that.”
The FBI and the Justice Department had lobbied strenuously against the memo’s release. In a statement Wednesday, the FBI had said it was “gravely concerned” that key facts were missing from the memo, which, it said, left an inaccurate impression of how the agency conducted surveillance under the authority of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court.
Friday morning, the president tweeted in anticipation of the memo’s release, saying: “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 - something which would have been unthinkable just a short time ago.’’ He added: “Rank & File are great people!”
Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, tweeted in response, “No, Mr. President it’s worse than that. The country’s top elected leader has agreed to selectively and misleadingly release classified info to attack the FBI — that’s what would have been unthinkable a short time ago.”
The memo has been the subject of intense debate in Congress, but the fight ratcheted up this week when the House Intelligence Committee voted along party lines to make the document public under a process that gives the president up to five days to block its release. The committee Republicans also voted not to release a Democratic rebuttal memo, saying they would allow that document to be made public in the future.
It is highly unusual for the White House and the FBI to be publicly at odds over a matter of national security, and it is unclear what impact the disagreement might have on the standing of FBI Director Christopher A. Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, two Trump appointees who went to the White House on Monday in an unsuccessful bid to urge that the memo not be released.
Law enforcement officials have expressed fear that Trump may try to use the memo’s release as justification to fire Rosenstein, who is overseeing Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III and the Russia interference probe.
The chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) has accused the FBI of stonewalling lawmakers on matters related to the Russia probe for nearly a year.
“It’s clear that top officials used unverified information in a court document to fuel a counter-intelligence investigation during an American political campaign,” he said. “Once the truth gets out, we can begin taking steps to ensure our intelligence agencies and courts are never misused like this again.”
[Trump tells GOP lawmaker he’ll ‘100 percent’ release the memo]
The memo describes some of the details of how information from a British former spy named Christopher Steele, who compiled a controversial dossier of allegations against then-candidate Donald Trump, was used as part of an application to the FISA court to conduct surreptitious surveillance on Carter Page, a former Trump campaign adviser, according to people familiar with the matter.
The FBI statement said federal agents carefully adhere to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, which provides a legal framework for national security investigations.
“The FBI takes seriously its obligations to the FISA Court and its compliance with procedures overseen by career professionals in the Department of Justice and the FBI,” the statement said. “We are committed to working with the appropriate oversight entities to ensure the continuing integrity of the FISA process.”
Current and former law enforcement officials said a major concern inside the FBI is that the rules governing classified information will impede their ability to respond to the memo’s accusations when it becomes public.
Philip Rucker contributed to this report.
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