This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2018/02/02/us/politics/trump-fbi-memo.html

The article has changed 12 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 9 Version 10
House Republicans Release Secret Memo Accusing Russia Investigators of Bias House Republicans Release Secret Memo Accusing Russia Investigators of Bias
(about 5 hours later)
WASHINGTON — House Republicans released a disputed memo on Friday compiled by congressional aides that accused the F.B.I. and Justice Department of abusing their surveillance powers to spy on a former Trump campaign adviser, Carter Page. WASHINGTON — House Republicans released a politically charged memo on Friday that accused F.B.I. and Justice Department leaders of abusing their surveillance powers to spy on a former Trump campaign adviser suspected of being an agent of Russia.
The memo, which has prompted a political firestorm, also criticizes information used by law enforcement officials in their application for a warrant to wiretap Mr. Page, and names the senior F.B.I. and Justice Department officials who approved the highly classified warrant. The memo alarmed national security officials and outraged Democrats, who accused the Republicans of misrepresenting sensitive government information through omissions and inaccuracies. President Trump declassified it over the objections of the F.B.I., which had expressed “grave concerns” over its accuracy in a rare public break from the White House.
But the memo falls well short of providing the material promised by some Republicans: namely, that the evidence it contained would cast doubt on the origins of the Russia investigation and possibly undermine the inquiry, which has been taken over by the special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. The three-and-a-half page memo, written by Republican congressional aides, criticized information used by law enforcement officials in their application for a warrant to wiretap the former campaign adviser, Carter Page, and named the senior F.B.I. and Justice Department officials who approved the highly classified application.
Instead, the document confirms that actions taken by another former Trump foreign policy adviser, George Papadopoulos, were a factor in the opening of the investigation. But it fell well short of making the case promised by some Republicans: that the evidence it contained would cast doubt on the origins of the Russia investigation and possibly undermine the inquiry, which has been taken over by a special counsel, Robert S. Mueller III. The Page warrant is just one aspect of the broader investigation.
The F.B.I. and House Democrats have both said the memo is misleading because it contains both omissions and inaccuracies. The memo does not provide the full scope of evidence the F.B.I. and Justice Department used to obtain the warrant to surveil Mr. Page. Instead, the document confirmed that contacts between a former Trump foreign policy adviser, George Papadopoulos, and Russian intermediaries were a primary factor in the opening of the investigation in July 2016.
The outlines of the memo were widely detailed in news reports in recent days. Several details from the complete memo show that it reflects a line of attack circulating for weeks in conservative media outlets, which have been amplifying a narrative that the Russia investigation is the illegitimate handiwork of a cabal of senior Justice Department and F.B.I. officials who were biased against President Trump and set out to sabotage him. The memo was outlined in news reports in recent days as Republicans pushed for its release. Several details show that it reflects a line of attack circulating for weeks in conservative news media outlets, which have been amplifying a narrative that the Russia investigation is the illegitimate handiwork of a cabal of senior Justice Department and F.B.I. officials who were biased against Mr. Trump and set out to sabotage him.
One of its chief accusations centers on investigators’ inclusion in the FISA warrant application of material from a former British spy, Christopher Steele. Mr. Steele was researching possible ties between Russia’s election interference and Trump associates, but the application did not explain that he was financed by the Democratic National Committee and lawyers for Hillary Clinton’s campaign. Representative Devin Nunes of California, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, portrayed the memo as recounting an “alarming series of events” in which intelligence and law enforcement agencies were “exploited to target one group on behalf of another.”
But a Democratic memo written to rebut the Republican document says that the F.B.I. was more forthcoming with the surveillance court than the Republicans say. The F.B.I. told the court that the information it received from Mr. Steele was politically motivated, although the agency did not specifically identify the information as financed by Democrats, according to two people familiar with the Democratic memo. One of its chief accusations centers on the inclusion in the warrant application of material from a former British spy, Christopher Steele. Mr. Steele was researching possible connections between Russia’s election interference and Trump associates, but the application to a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge did not explain that he was partly financed by the Democratic National Committee and lawyers for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign, the memo says.
It is not clear to what extent the FISA application hinges on the material provided by Mr. Steele. In December 2017, the Republican memo said, Andrew G. McCabe, then the deputy director of the F.B.I., told the House Intelligence Committee that no surveillance would have been sought without Mr. Steele’s information. “Neither the initial application in October 2016, nor any of the renewals, disclose or reference the role of the D.N.C., Clinton campaign, or any party/campaign in funding Steele’s efforts, even though the political origins of the Steele dossier were then known to senior D.O.J. and F.B.I. officials,” said the memo, which was written by committee staff members.
But the people familiar with the Democratic memo said that Republicans had distorted what Mr. McCabe told the intelligence committee about the importance of the information from Mr. Steele. Mr. McCabe presented the material as part of a constellation of compelling evidence that raised serious suspicions about Mr. Page, the two people said. The evidence included contacts Mr. Page had in 2013 with a Russian intelligence operative. But a 10-page Democratic memo written to rebut the Republican document says that the F.B.I. was more forthcoming with the surveillance court than the Republicans say. The F.B.I. told the court that the information it received from Mr. Steele was politically motivated, though the agency did not say it was financed by Democrats, according to two people familiar with the Democratic memo.
Notably, the Republican memo does not assert that Mr. Steele’s information was the fountainhead of the broader Russia investigation as many Republicans and conservative media commentators have insinuated. But nor did it mention that The Washington Free Beacon, a conservative website, first hired the research firm that funded Mr. Steele’s work.
By a party-line vote, Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee voted to release their memo this week and rejected Democrats’ appeal to make public their own still-classified memo at the same time. Democrats have accused Republicans of suppressing evidence that would correct what they say are mischaracterizations.
“The sole purpose of the Republican document is to circle the wagons around the White House and insulate the president,” Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the top Democrat on the committee, said on Friday.
The Republican memo does not provide the full scope of evidence the F.B.I. and Justice Department used to obtain the warrant to surveil Mr. Page, and it is not clear to what extent the application hinges on the material provided by Mr. Steele. In December 2017, the Republican memo said, Andrew G. McCabe, then the deputy director of the F.B.I., told the House Intelligence Committee that no surveillance would have been sought without Mr. Steele’s information.
But the people familiar with the Democratic memo said that Republicans had distorted what Mr. McCabe told the Intelligence Committee about the importance of the information from Mr. Steele. Mr. McCabe presented the material as part of a constellation of compelling evidence that raised serious suspicions about Mr. Page, the two people said. The evidence included contacts Mr. Page had in 2013 with a Russian intelligence operative.
Mr. Page’s contacts with the Russian operative led to an investigation of Mr. Page that year, including a wiretap on him, another person familiar with the matter said.Mr. Page’s contacts with the Russian operative led to an investigation of Mr. Page that year, including a wiretap on him, another person familiar with the matter said.
Mr. McCabe told the committee that the decision to seek a FISA warrant was also prompted by Russian attempts to target Mr. Papadopoulos, a trip Mr. Page took to Moscow in July 2016 and the Russian hacking of Democratic emails that appeared to be aimed at harming the presidential campaign of Hillary Clinton, the two people familiar with the Democratic memo said Mr. McCabe told the committee that the decision to seek a warrant under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA, was also prompted by Russia’s attempts to target Mr. Papadopoulos, by a trip Mr. Page took to Moscow in July 2016 and by the Russian hacking of Democratic emails that appeared to be aimed at harming the Clinton campaign, the two people familiar with the Democratic memo said.
The Democratic memo also says that when the F.B.I. returned to court to renew the wiretap on Mr. Page, bureau officials told the judge that the agency had cut ties with Mr. Steele because he was talking to reporters about the investigation. The judge extended the warrant anyway. Among the handful of other details in the memo was that the application also cited a September 2016 article published by Yahoo News. It cited unnamed sources saying that government investigators were scrutinizing Mr. Page’s links to Russia.
The Republicans’ assertion that investigators were not forthcoming about Mr. Steele is “potentially problematic,” said David Kris, a FISA expert and former head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division in the first term of the Obama administration. Mr. Steele was later revealed to be a source for the article, and the memo suggests that law enforcement officials’ inclusion of it in their warrant application means they were using the same source twice but presenting him as separate sources.
If the warrant applications did disclose that Mr. Steele’s research was funded by people who were opposed to Mr. Trump’s campaign, even if it did not name the D.N.C. or the Clinton campaign, then the applications “would be fine,” he said, and the author of the memo and those who backed its release are trying to mislead the American people.
“To me, that appears to be the lens through which we should evaluate the honesty, decency, and integrity of the two sides here,” Mr. Kris said. “Not having seen the FISA applications, my money is on D.O.J. and the F.B.I., but presumably time will tell.”
Among the handful of details revealed by the publication of the memo was that the application also cited a September 2016 article published by Yahoo News. Written by the veteran investigative reporter Michael Isikoff, it cited unnamed sources saying that government investigators were scrutinizing Mr. Page’s ties to Russia.
Mr. Steele was later revealed to be a source for the article, and the memo suggests that law enforcement officials’ inclusion of it in their warrant application means they were using the same source twice but presenting it as separate sources.
“This article does not corroborate the Steele dossier because it is derived from information leaked by Steele himself to Yahoo News,” the memo said, underlining the assertion.“This article does not corroborate the Steele dossier because it is derived from information leaked by Steele himself to Yahoo News,” the memo said, underlining the assertion.
But it is unlikely that such an article would have been submitted to the court for the purpose of corroborating that a suspect was an agent of a foreign power, said Mr. Kris. Mr. Schiff deemed this claim to be one of several serious mischaracterizations, saying the article was not used to corroborate Mr. Steele’s material.
“The idea that they would cite a newspaper article as affirmative evidence of information contained in the article strikes me as very far-fetched,” he said. “It is much more likely that they would include an article to show that the investigation had become public, and that the target therefore might take steps to destroy evidence or cover his tracks.” It was more likely to have been included “to show that the investigation had become public, and that the target therefore might take steps to destroy evidence or cover his tracks,” said David Kris, a FISA expert and former head of the Justice Department’s National Security Division in the first term of the Obama administration.
In an extraordinary move, the president declassified the identities of the people who had authorized the warrant. Republican committee staff members said the initial FISA warrant for surveillance of Mr. Page was approved by James B. Comey, the former F.B.I. director, and Sally Q. Yates, then the deputy attorney general. The date of the original application was Oct. 21, 2016. The Republican memo said the initial FISA warrant for surveillance of Mr. Page was approved by James B. Comey, then the F.B.I. director, and Sally Q. Yates, then the deputy attorney general, both of whom Mr. Trump later fired.
The warrant was renewed three times, meaning Mr. Page was under surveillance for about a year. At various points in renewals of the warrant, required every 90 days, other law enforcement officials who signed off included Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general; Dana J. Boente, now the general counsel of the F.B.I.; and Andrew G. McCabe, the former F.B.I. deputy director who resigned under pressure this week. The warrant was renewed three times, which was required every 90 days, meaning Mr. Page was under surveillance for about a year. At various points in the renewals, other law enforcement officials who signed off included Dana J. Boente, now the general counsel of the F.B.I.; Mr. McCabe, the former F.B.I. deputy director who resigned under pressure this week; and Rod J. Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general who appointed Mr. Mueller as special counsel and has been a target of the president’s displeasure over the Russia inquiry.
Mr. McCabe has been a frequent target of Republicans and of the president. Mr. Trump is also said to be unhappy with Mr. Rosenstein, who appointed Mr. Mueller as special counsel to oversee the Russia investigation. Under Justice Department regulations, Mr. Rosenstein oversees Mr. Mueller and is the only person who can fire him — and only if he finds that the special counsel has committed misconduct. Mr. Rosenstein has repeatedly said he would refuse any order to fire the special counsel without such a finding — and that he has seen no sign of misconduct.
Asked at the White House on Friday whether he would fire Mr. Rosenstein, the president cocked his head suggestively and said: “You figure that one out.” Asked at the White House on Friday whether he would fire Mr. Rosenstein in light of the Republican memo — a move that would enable him to put someone else in charge of Mr. Mueller — Mr. Trump cocked his head suggestively and said, “You figure that one out.”
Pressed on whether he had confidence in Mr. Rosenstein, Mr. Trump would not answer. Also on Friday, Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement that he would evaluate the Republican’s criticism. Pressed on whether he had confidence in Mr. Rosenstein, the president would not answer.
The Republican memo also highlights Bruce Ohr, then an associate deputy attorney general, who has been attacked in conservative news media outlets in recent weeks because his wife, Nellie Ohr, worked as a contractor with FusionGPS, the opposition research firm that hired Mr. Steele. Mr. Ohr also met with Mr. Steele himself. The memo says the Ohrs’ relationship with them “was inexplicably concealed” from the intelligence court.
The memo does not mention that Mr. Ohr worked on counternarcotics, not counterintelligence. It does not allege that he played any role in the Russia investigation or the wiretap application.
The document also notes that the FISA application mentions Mr. Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty last year to lying to the F.B.I. about his contacts with people connected to the Russian government. The memo said there is no evidence that Mr. Papadopoulos conspired with Mr. Page.
But Mr. Schiff said that the Justice Department was instead providing the court “with a comprehensive explanation of Russia’s election interference, including evidence that Russian agents courted another Trump campaign finance adviser” as “the context in which to evaluate Russian approaches to Page.”
Attorney General Jeff Sessions said in a statement on Friday that he would evaluate the Republicans’ criticism of the Justice Department.
“I am determined that we will fully and fairly ascertain the truth,” he said.“I am determined that we will fully and fairly ascertain the truth,” he said.
The F.B.I., which had publicly clashed with the president over the memo’s release, had so far held its fire. In a message to F.B.I. employees on Friday, Christopher A. Wray, the bureau’s director, said he stood behind the agency’s employees.
The memo has set off partisan fury in Congress and protests within the executive branch. Law enforcement officials have warned that they have concerns that it jeopardizes sensitive national security information. “You’ve been through a lot in the past nine months, and I know it’s often been unsettling, to say the least,” he said. “And the past few days haven’t done much to calm those waters.”
Led by Representative Devin Nunes of California, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Republicans have portrayed the memo as revealing a scandalous abuse of surveillance powers by the executive branch as it launched the investigation into Russia’s interference in the 2016 election and ties to the Trump campaign.
“The 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,” Mr. Nunes said in a statement, portraying the memo as recounting an “alarming series of events” in which intelligence and law enforcement agencies were “exploited to target one group on behalf of another.”
The memo also highlights Bruce Ohr, then an associate deputy attorney general, whose wife worked as a contractor with FusionGPS, the opposition research firm that hired Mr. Steele.
Mr. Ohr’s wife, Nellie Ohr, worked on contract for Fusion in 2016 doing translations of Russian media reports and other open-source research. Her role was relatively minor, a person familiar with her effort said. Ms. Ohr was not fully briefed on the work that Fusion was doing with Mr. Steele’s research, the person said.
Ms. Ohr’s background was in open-source intelligence — information that is publicly available — and she worked previously at the Open Source Center at the Central Intelligence Agency. The center does not handle classified information, and Ms. Ohr would not have had access to highly classified secrets or programs during her time there.
The memo also notes that the FISA application mentions Mr. Papadopoulos, who pleaded guilty last year to lying to the F.B.I. about his contacts with people connected to the Russian government. The memo said there is no evidence Mr. Papadopoulos conspired with Mr. Page.
Top officials and investigators at the F.B.I. and Justice Department have “politicized the sacred investigative process,” Mr. Trump said earlier on Friday.
Mr. Page was on the radar of intelligence agencies for years when Mr. Trump named him to be one of his foreign policy advisers in 2016. He had visited Moscow in July 2016 and was preparing to return there that December when investigators obtained the warrant. White House officials have described Mr. Page as a gadfly who had been “put on notice” by the campaign and whom Mr. Trump did not know.