Trump to Release Memo Friday Morning Without Redactions
Thu, 02/01/2018 - 21:27
Via Kenneth Whittle at Disobedient Media
According to a recent report by the Washington Examiner, President Trump will declassify the controversial four-page memo that reportedly details surveillance abuses by the Department of Justice and FBI, and send it back to House Intelligence for a Friday morning release.
The news comes just days after President Trump’s State of the Union address, where he was overheard stating that he would “100%” release the memo.
The Examiner further reports that FBI Director Wray continues to oppose the release of the memo to the American public, citing: “grave concerns about the memo’s accuracy.”
However, as the Wall Street Journal reports, it is important to remember that the FBI knows and has known what is in the memo for a long time, as the Bureau had, “refused to provide access to those documents until director Christopher Wray and the Justice Department faced a contempt of Congress vote.”
The Journal further relates that: “The FBI’s public statement appears to be an act of insubordination after Mr. Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein tried and failed to get the White House to block the memo’s release. Their public protest appears intended to tarnish in advance whatever information the memo contains. The public is getting to see amid this brawl how the FBI plays politics, and it isn’t a good look.”
Members of the Democratic Party have also expressed their opposition to the release of the memo.
For example, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), has also come out against the release of the memo to the public. Last week, Schiff and Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA), wrote a letter to Facebook and Twitter, in which they expressed their fears that the top trending hashtag “#ReleaseTheMemo” was being pushed by Russian bots as part of a propaganda effort seeking to “attack our democracy”.
However, much to their dismay, it was revealed that the top trending hashtag was not the work of Russian bots, but originated organically by fellow Americans. This news did not deter a California duo from penning a second letter to Facebook and Twitter on Wednesday, in order to raise awareness about potential abuse of their platforms by “agents of foreign influence”.
Schiff also wrote a second letter Wednesday night, which was addressed to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), in which Schiff sought to further delay the release of the memo, due to “material changes” that were made to it. This came hours after it was reported Lou Dobbs of Fox News, that on Wednesday, five senior members of the FBI went to the White House to revise the memo.
However, as Byron York of the Washington Examiner reports, according to his House Intelligence source, the only changes made to the memo were minor and included: “A) Unknown number of ‘grammatical and clarifying’ fixes. B) One change requested by FBI due to sources & methods concerns. C) One two-word change requested by Democrats for accuracy.”
Democratic House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi (CA) has also expressed her opposition to the release of the memo to the American public.
In a letter to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI), Pelosi voiced her opinion that Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, should be removed from his position on the committee, writing: “Congressman Nune’s deliberately dishonest actions make him unfit to serve as Chairman, and he must be removed immediately from his position.”
In her letter, Pelosi claims that Nunes, “deliberately and materially altered the contents of the memo since it was voted on by the House Republicans.”
Pelosi went on to write that: “House Republicans’ pattern of obstruction and cover-up to hide the truth about the Trump-Russia scandal represents a threat to our intelligence and our national security. The GOP has led a partisan effort to distort intelligence and discredit the U.S. law enforcement and intelligence communities.”
Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has also weighed in on the release of the memo to the public. According to The Daily Caller, Schumer also wrote a letter to Speaker Ryan, requesting that he, “remove Chairman Nunes from the HPSCI; withdraw support for the release of the HPSCI’s memo; and insist on supporting swift passage of legislation protecting Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation from political interference.”
Like Schiff and Feinstein, Schumer went on to claim that the Russians were behind the public outcry to release the memo, stating: “Even more extraordinary is that the actions of Chairman Nunes and his supporters are being actively parroted by Russian-linked cyber actors on social media with the intent to discredit U.S. democratic institutions.”
However, it is critical to note that the Democratic Party is not the only group opposing the release of the memo to the public. The group who seems to oppose the release of the memo more than anyone is the very group of people whose job it is to hold the government accountable and expose governmental wrongdoing and corruption, the Press.
For example, MSNBC has come out against the release of information to the American public, with Andrea Mitchell tweeting: “How will they justify releasing this memo? Intelligence community is on fire about what they say risks 40 years of congressional oversight of the agencies.”
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow also chimed in, tweeting Schiff’s statement that: “There is no longer a valid basis for the White House to review the altered document, since this new version is not the same document shared with the entire House and on which Committee Members voted.”
MSNBC’s John Heilemann even went so far as to inquire as to whether or not Rep. Nunes had been compromised: “Is it possible that the Republican chairman of the House Intel Committee has been compromised by the Russians? Is it possible that we actually have a Russian agent running the House Intel Committee on the Republican side?”
Joe Scarborough of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, also attacked the memo, calling it a “sleazy political purge”, and an attempt to “misinform the public”.
The Washington Free Beacon reports that CNN’s Brian Karem also attacked the release of the memo, claiming that it would serve as a “tipping point for our democracy”, and warned that the document’s release may lead the country to be ruled by “demagoguery and despotism.”
Karem went on to further state that the release of the memo is “…simply and nothing else but a power play, a demagogue pushing back against the Democratic process”, comparing it to a “mafia boss gone mad.”
CNN’s Phil Mudd also attacked the release of the memo, claiming that it was created through “collusion” between Nunes staffers and the White House.
The Atlantic’s Senior Editor David Frum also came out against government transparency and the release of the memo, tweeting: “The *full* full transparency argument would be: release all tax returns, corporate records, campaign emails, and other documents relevant to Donald Trump’s Russia/WikiLeaks connections.”
This ongoing attack by those in the media is extremely troubling. Under normal circumstances, any media outlet would be rushing to break a story alleging the violation of the fourth amendment rights of a presidential candidate, as well corruption at the top of the FBI and DOJ. However, these are not normal circumstances, as the media has completely bought into the “Trump-Russia collusion” narrative.
However, as noted by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, by forcefully announcing their opposition to the release of the memo, the Democrats, DOJ, FBI, and the mainstream media have chosen to side against the American public, and against transparency.
In the end, despite all of the media noise and attacks the memo is slated to be released on Friday morning. Once it is released, it will be up to the American public, not the media or politicians, to determine whether or not the information contained in the memo is as explosive as it has been hyped up to be. But given the constant barrage of attacks by Democratic politicians and their media counterparts, this author is of the opinion that there is something they do not want us to see. As the saying goes, “If you’re taking flak, you know you’re over the target”
According to a recent report by the Washington Examiner, President Trump will declassify the controversial four-page memo that reportedly details surveillance abuses by the Department of Justice and FBI, and send it back to House Intelligence for a Friday morning release.
The news comes just days after President Trump’s State of the Union address, where he was overheard stating that he would “100%” release the memo.
The Examiner further reports that FBI Director Wray continues to oppose the release of the memo to the American public, citing: “grave concerns about the memo’s accuracy.”
However, as the Wall Street Journal reports, it is important to remember that the FBI knows and has known what is in the memo for a long time, as the Bureau had, “refused to provide access to those documents until director Christopher Wray and the Justice Department faced a contempt of Congress vote.”
The Journal further relates that: “The FBI’s public statement appears to be an act of insubordination after Mr. Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein tried and failed to get the White House to block the memo’s release. Their public protest appears intended to tarnish in advance whatever information the memo contains. The public is getting to see amid this brawl how the FBI plays politics, and it isn’t a good look.”
Members of the Democratic Party have also expressed their opposition to the release of the memo.
For example, ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), has also come out against the release of the memo to the public. Last week, Schiff and Sen. Diane Feinstein (D-CA), wrote a letter to Facebook and Twitter, in which they expressed their fears that the top trending hashtag “#ReleaseTheMemo” was being pushed by Russian bots as part of a propaganda effort seeking to “attack our democracy”.
However, much to their dismay, it was revealed that the top trending hashtag was not the work of Russian bots, but originated organically by fellow Americans. This news did not deter a California duo from penning a second letter to Facebook and Twitter on Wednesday, in order to raise awareness about potential abuse of their platforms by “agents of foreign influence”.
Schiff also wrote a second letter Wednesday night, which was addressed to Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), in which Schiff sought to further delay the release of the memo, due to “material changes” that were made to it. This came hours after it was reported Lou Dobbs of Fox News, that on Wednesday, five senior members of the FBI went to the White House to revise the memo.
However, as Byron York of the Washington Examiner reports, according to his House Intelligence source, the only changes made to the memo were minor and included: “A) Unknown number of ‘grammatical and clarifying’ fixes. B) One change requested by FBI due to sources & methods concerns. C) One two-word change requested by Democrats for accuracy.”
Democratic House minority leader, Nancy Pelosi (CA) has also expressed her opposition to the release of the memo to the American public.
In a letter to Speaker of the House Paul Ryan (R-WI), Pelosi voiced her opinion that Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, should be removed from his position on the committee, writing: “Congressman Nune’s deliberately dishonest actions make him unfit to serve as Chairman, and he must be removed immediately from his position.”
In her letter, Pelosi claims that Nunes, “deliberately and materially altered the contents of the memo since it was voted on by the House Republicans.”
Pelosi went on to write that: “House Republicans’ pattern of obstruction and cover-up to hide the truth about the Trump-Russia scandal represents a threat to our intelligence and our national security. The GOP has led a partisan effort to distort intelligence and discredit the U.S. law enforcement and intelligence communities.”
Senate minority leader, Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has also weighed in on the release of the memo to the public. According to The Daily Caller, Schumer also wrote a letter to Speaker Ryan, requesting that he, “remove Chairman Nunes from the HPSCI; withdraw support for the release of the HPSCI’s memo; and insist on supporting swift passage of legislation protecting Special Counsel Mueller’s investigation from political interference.”
Like Schiff and Feinstein, Schumer went on to claim that the Russians were behind the public outcry to release the memo, stating: “Even more extraordinary is that the actions of Chairman Nunes and his supporters are being actively parroted by Russian-linked cyber actors on social media with the intent to discredit U.S. democratic institutions.”
However, it is critical to note that the Democratic Party is not the only group opposing the release of the memo to the public. The group who seems to oppose the release of the memo more than anyone is the very group of people whose job it is to hold the government accountable and expose governmental wrongdoing and corruption, the Press.
For example, MSNBC has come out against the release of information to the American public, with Andrea Mitchell tweeting: “How will they justify releasing this memo? Intelligence community is on fire about what they say risks 40 years of congressional oversight of the agencies.”
MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow also chimed in, tweeting Schiff’s statement that: “There is no longer a valid basis for the White House to review the altered document, since this new version is not the same document shared with the entire House and on which Committee Members voted.”
MSNBC’s John Heilemann even went so far as to inquire as to whether or not Rep. Nunes had been compromised: “Is it possible that the Republican chairman of the House Intel Committee has been compromised by the Russians? Is it possible that we actually have a Russian agent running the House Intel Committee on the Republican side?”
Joe Scarborough of MSNBC’s Morning Joe, also attacked the memo, calling it a “sleazy political purge”, and an attempt to “misinform the public”.
The Washington Free Beacon reports that CNN’s Brian Karem also attacked the release of the memo, claiming that it would serve as a “tipping point for our democracy”, and warned that the document’s release may lead the country to be ruled by “demagoguery and despotism.”
Karem went on to further state that the release of the memo is “…simply and nothing else but a power play, a demagogue pushing back against the Democratic process”, comparing it to a “mafia boss gone mad.”
CNN’s Phil Mudd also attacked the release of the memo, claiming that it was created through “collusion” between Nunes staffers and the White House.
The Atlantic’s Senior Editor David Frum also came out against government transparency and the release of the memo, tweeting: “The *full* full transparency argument would be: release all tax returns, corporate records, campaign emails, and other documents relevant to Donald Trump’s Russia/WikiLeaks connections.”
This ongoing attack by those in the media is extremely troubling. Under normal circumstances, any media outlet would be rushing to break a story alleging the violation of the fourth amendment rights of a presidential candidate, as well corruption at the top of the FBI and DOJ. However, these are not normal circumstances, as the media has completely bought into the “Trump-Russia collusion” narrative.
However, as noted by Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, by forcefully announcing their opposition to the release of the memo, the Democrats, DOJ, FBI, and the mainstream media have chosen to side against the American public, and against transparency.
In the end, despite all of the media noise and attacks the memo is slated to be released on Friday morning. Once it is released, it will be up to the American public, not the media or politicians, to determine whether or not the information contained in the memo is as explosive as it has been hyped up to be. But given the constant barrage of attacks by Democratic politicians and their media counterparts, this author is of the opinion that there is something they do not want us to see. As the saying goes, “If you’re taking flak, you know you’re over the target”
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