Donald Trump says Nunes memo is declassified and Congress will "do whatever" with it
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A controversial memo alleging abuse of authority by the FBI in its Russia investigation has been declassified and released to the public.
The memo, written by the staff of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, raises concerns about the FBI's use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in relation into the investigation into possible connections between officials in Donald Trump's presidential campaign and Russia
Their findings "represent a troubling breakdown of legal processes established to protect the American people from abuses related to the FISA process", the document states.
Mr Trump allowed the House Intelligence Committee to release the report to the public on Friday without redactions. The president called the contents of the memo "a disgrace" and, in relation to the FBI, that "a lot of people should be ashamed of themselves". He declined to say whether he still had faith in Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general overseeing the federal investigation.
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Democrats claimed the release of the memo was an attempt to discredit this investigation – one which would set a dangerous precedent that would do "long-term damage" to the US intelligence community.
Much of the memo concerns the process by which the FBI obtained a FISA warrant to surveil former Trump campaign advisor Carter Page, claiming the warrant application was informed largely by a Democrat-funded opposition research dossier compiled by former MI6 agent Christopher Steele.
Republicans and Democrats have fiercely debated the release of the memo since last month, when Mr Nunes made it available to members of the House. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the Intelligence Committee, claimed the memo "mischaracterises highly sensitive classified information" in order to suit Republicans' political aims.
“Chairman Nunes’ decision ... to publicly release misleading allegations against the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation is a shameful effort to discredit these institutions, undermine the Special Counsel’s ongoing investigation, and undercut congressional probes," Mr Schiff said.
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The congressman claimed the FISA warrant to surveil Mr Page had been properly obtained, and was not based entirely on the Steele dossier. He added that Democrats would seek a vote to release their response to the memo, which he claimed pointed out several other factual errors.
The FBI cautioned against releasing the memo in a rare public statement this week, saying they had "grave concerns" about its accuracy.
Former FBI Director James Comey - fired by Mr Trump last year - tweeted that the newly released Republican-written memo doesn't add up to much. Mr Comey asked on Twitter, “That's it?”
He called the memo “dishonest and misleading” and not worth the damage it's done to public trust in U.S. intelligence agencies.
Mr Trump did not signal what, if any, other steps he would take in response to the memo.
"Congress will do whatever they're going to do," he said as he confirmed his support for the memo's release
Republican Governor for Ohio John Kasich has also hit out the memo's release. That comes after Mr Trump mocked Mr Kasich for being one of his most relentless critics during a speech on Friday.
One of the major elements of the Nunes memo is that the FBI relied on the dossier compiled by former MI6 operative Christopher Steele to wrongly obtain the FISA warrant against Mr Page - with the memo accusing Mr Steele of anti-Trump bias.
However, leading Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff, told CNN that it is "not accurate" that the secret court was NOT aware of Mr Steele's political motivations. He said the court was aware that there was a "likely political motivation" behind Mr Steele's actions.
Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders has responded to the Nunes memo release:
"Let’s be absolutely clear. The release of this Republican staff memo is a blatant attempt by House Republicans and the White House to disrupt the critically important investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and the possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign. "The fact that Congressional Republicans and the White House would release a memo the FBI itself says is misleading is a sad example of a political party putting partisanship above patriotism. That this memo was first released to right-wing news outlets like FOX News and the Washington Examiner speaks to the political nature of this effort. "According to news reports President Trump himself has acknowledged that the release of the memo was designed to disrupt Robert Mueller’s investigation. It is critical that the American people learn the truth about what happened in 2016, and no political stunt should interfere with the special counsel’s work. What is the president afraid of?"
House minority leader Nancy Pelosi has issued a stern warning to President Trump following the release of the Nunes memo.
"If the President uses this fake, horrible release of distorted intelligence as an excuse" to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein or special counsel Robert Mueller, "it could lead to a constitutional crisis," she said.
Earlier today, a group of 10 House and Senate Democrats — including Ms Pelosi — used similar language in a letter to President Trump.
"We write to inform you that we would consider such an unwarranted action as an attempt to obstruct justice in the Russia investigation. Firing Rod Rosenstein, DOJ Leadership, or Bob Mueller could result in a constitutional crisis of the kind not seen since the Saturday Night Massacre."
Top Democrats on the Senate Intelligence Committee have knocked the Nunes memo, and the way that it was released.
Following its release, ranking member Sen Mark Warner claimed that the release of the statement was biased, and ignored further truths surrounding the issue.
"The release of this memo by House Intelligence Committee Republicans and the White House, over the objections of the FBI and the Department of Justice, is reckless and demonstrates an astonishing disregard for the truth," Mr Warner said.
Mr Warner was joined by his vice-chair on the committee, Sen Dianne Feinstein.
The release of the Nunes memo has some rumours spreading through Washington that potential firings or resignations among senior law enforcement officials are on the way, according to NPR.
That is because the release of the memo marks the latest escalation in tensions between the White House and the intelligence community. The FBI and Justice Department had warned that releasing the memo, saying that it could jeopardize intelligence gathering operations -- or include inaccuracies -- but those warnings were brushed aside by Mr Trump and Republicans in Congress.
Two White House officials say President Donald Trump is not considering firing Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.
Earlier Friday, Mr Trump declined to express confidence in the Justice Department's second-in-command.
The officials told the Associated Press that there is no consideration or expectation for Rosenstein to leave the job. They were not authorised to discuss internal deliberations publicly and spoke on condition of anonymity.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman, Devin Nunes, the chief architect of the memo, told Fox News host Bret Baier, "I didn't want to have to do this".
"But the sad part is is that I have an obligation to the American people when we see FISA abuse," Mr Nunes said.
Just hours after the release of the memo, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes has said the panel is now moving onto "phase two" of its investigation.
"We are in the middle of what I call phase two of our investigation, which involves other departments, specifically the State Department and some of the involvement that they had in this," Mr Nunes told Fox News.
"That investigation is ongoing and we continue work towards finding answers and asking the right questions to try to get to the bottom of what exactly the State Department was up to in terms of this Russia investigation," he added.
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