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Nunes memo won't stop Trump-Russia investigation – Benghazi Republican Nunes memo 'a political hit job on FBI' in service of Trump, top Democrat says
(about 1 hour later)
Trey Gowdy: dossier ‘has nothing to do with Trump Tower meeting’ Adam Schiff says release of memo will compromise work of FBI
Gowdy grilled Hillary Clinton over deaths in Benghazi in 2012 GOP’s Gowdy: dossier ‘nothing to do with Trump Tower meeting’
What is the Nunes memo and why is it important?What is the Nunes memo and why is it important?
Tom McCarthyTom McCarthy
Sun 4 Feb 2018 14.42 GMT Sun 4 Feb 2018 16.00 GMT
Last modified on Sun 4 Feb 2018 14.43 GMT First published on Sun 4 Feb 2018 14.42 GMT
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A memo released on Friday by House intelligence committee chair Devin Nunes has set the sirens of the conspiratorial right blaring in a way not seen since the heyday of a scandal – a manufactured scandal, critics said – over the deaths of US state department personnel in Benghazi in 2012. A top Democrat in Congress has accused his Republican colleagues of carrying out “a political hit job on the FBI in the service of the president” with the Friday release of a memo assembled by House intelligence committee chair Devin Nunes.
The memo ties top figures in the Russia investigation to alleged law enforcement malpractice, and has set the grassroots alight and led conservative members of Congress to diagnose rot at the heart of the justice department. The extraordinary charge, which underscored the rift that has opened between Donald Trump and America’s most powerful law enforcement agency, was delivered on Sunday by Adam Schiff, the ranking Democrat on the intelligence committee.
But not every ticketholder is getting on the latest ride. Congressman Trey Gowdy, the chair of the committee that conducted the highest-profile investigation of the Benghazi affair, has taken the measure of the Nunes memo and declared it a non-starter. Schiff told ABC’s This Week that Republican members of the committee had declined to interview FBI officials as they bulldozed forward to release a memo they hoped would discredit the investigation of Trump’s Russia ties.
“I actually don’t think it has any impact on the Russia probe,” Gowdy said in an interview with CBS’S Face the Nation to be broadcast Sunday. Trump privately hoped the memo, which ties top figures in the Russia investigation to alleged law enforcement malpractice, would give him political cover to make changes in the justice department and potentially short-circuit the Russia inquiry run by special counsel Robert Mueller, according to multiple reports.
That assessment contrasts markedly with Donald Trump’s judgment of the matter. “This memo totally vindicates ‘Trump’ in the probe,” the president tweeted on Saturday. “The interest wasn’t oversight,” Schiff said of the decision to release the memo. “The interest was a political hit job on the FBI in the service of the president.”
Not by a long shot, said Gowdy, whose willingness to break with the president may be informed by his recent retirement announcement. A former prosecutor, Gowdy has said he wishes to return to work in some capacity in the justice system. Schiff added: “Other sources of information are going to decide not to share with the FBI because they can’t rely on our committee not to be partisan in the handling of that information.”
Speculation continued on Sunday about whether Trump would try to fire Mueller or Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general overseeing the special counsel’s work.
Dick Durbin, the No 2 Democrat in the Senate, told CNN’s State of the Union doing so would “precipitate a constitutional crisis”.
Former Trump chief of staff Reince Priebus told NBC’s Meet the Press: “I never felt that the president was going to fire the special counsel. I never heard that.”
Priebus, who left the White House last July, added that he did not think the president was flirting with the idea of firing Mueller. A White House spokesman told CNN on Friday “no changes are going to be made at the Department of Justice”.
Paul Rosenzweig, a homeland security official in the George W Bush administration, tweeted that with the release of the Nunes memo, the Republican party had fully consummated its union with Trump.
“If you stay in the party you own this,” he wrote.
Even as the president tweeted on Saturday that the memo “totally vindicates ‘Trump’ in the probe”, however, elected officials on both sides of the aisle said the memo had done nothing to change the substantial allegations at the heart of the Russia inquiry.
“I actually don’t think it has any impact on the Russia probe,” Trey Gowdy, the outgoing Republican chairman of the House oversight committee, said in an interview with CBS’S Face the Nation.
While accepting a key assertion of the memo, that law enforcement relied too heavily on a dossier assembled by former MI6 agent Christopher Steele, which Steele has defended against claims of inaccuracy, Gowdy said the Russia investigation at large rested on a lot more than the dossier.While accepting a key assertion of the memo, that law enforcement relied too heavily on a dossier assembled by former MI6 agent Christopher Steele, which Steele has defended against claims of inaccuracy, Gowdy said the Russia investigation at large rested on a lot more than the dossier.
Two former Trump aides, including George Papadopoulos, his first national security adviser, have pleaded guilty in the investigation so far and are cooperating with prosecutors. Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, faces multiple felony charges including fraud and failing to register as a foreign agent. Two former Trump aides, including George Papadopoulos, his first national security adviser, have pleaded guilty and are cooperating with prosecutors. Paul Manafort, Trump’s former campaign chairman, faces multiple felony charges including fraud and failing to register as a foreign agent.
“There is a Russia investigation without a dossier,” Gowdy told CBS. “The dossier has nothing to do with the meeting at Trump Tower.” “There is a Russia investigation without a dossier,” Gowdy said. “The dossier has nothing to do with the meeting at Trump Tower.”
Donald Trump Jr and others met Russian operatives at Trump Tower in June 2016 in hopes of obtaining damaging information on Hillary Clinton, though the president later helped create a false cover story to explain the meeting, key details of which remain unknown.Donald Trump Jr and others met Russian operatives at Trump Tower in June 2016 in hopes of obtaining damaging information on Hillary Clinton, though the president later helped create a false cover story to explain the meeting, key details of which remain unknown.
“The dossier has nothing to do with an email sent by Cambridge Analytica,” Gowdy continued, referring to a data analysis firm that worked with the Trump campaign and has been a target of the special counsel investigation of Russia ties.“The dossier has nothing to do with an email sent by Cambridge Analytica,” Gowdy continued, referring to a data analysis firm that worked with the Trump campaign and has been a target of the special counsel investigation of Russia ties.
“The dossier really has nothing to do with George Papadopoulos’s meeting in Great Britain,” Gowdy said, referring to a meeting between the former Trump adviser and a Joseph Mifsud, Maltese academic who told him Russia was in possession of emails that would be damaging to Clinton. “The dossier really has nothing to do with George Papadopoulos’s meeting in Great Britain,” Gowdy said, referring to a meeting between the former Trump adviser and Joseph Mifsud, the Maltese academic who told him Russia was in possession of emails that would be damaging to Clinton.
“It also doesn’t have anything to do with obstruction of justice,” said Gowdy, referring to an accusation against Trump that former federal prosecutors believe special counsel Robert Mueller is preparing to make formally. “It also doesn’t have anything to do with obstruction of justice,” said Gowdy, referring to an accusation against Trump that former federal prosecutors believe Mueller is preparing to make formally.
“So there’s going to be a Russia probe, even without a dossier,” Gowdy concluded.“So there’s going to be a Russia probe, even without a dossier,” Gowdy concluded.
As a member of the special Benghazi committee, Gowdy was responsible for grilling Hillary Clinton for 11 hours in 2015 about the deaths of state department personnel in the Libyan city.As a member of the special Benghazi committee, Gowdy was responsible for grilling Hillary Clinton for 11 hours in 2015 about the deaths of state department personnel in the Libyan city.
His work on the committee made Gowdy a star for a previous micro-generation of far-right conspiracy mongers, a stardom that lives on on YouTube in videos with titles like “Trey Gowdy GRILLS Hillary Clinton Benghazi Committee Hearing”.His work on the committee made Gowdy a star for a previous micro-generation of far-right conspiracy mongers, a stardom that lives on on YouTube in videos with titles like “Trey Gowdy GRILLS Hillary Clinton Benghazi Committee Hearing”.
Trump-Russia investigationTrump-Russia investigation
Donald TrumpDonald Trump
Trump administrationTrump administration
RussiaRussia
US CongressUS Congress
House of RepresentativesHouse of Representatives
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