Posted on 01/28/2018 10:59:14 AM PST by Kaslin
Lawmakers have been reluctant to discuss a classified four-page memo alleging that the FBI and Justice Department abused the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in order to spy on Trump campaign associates, but South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy provided several clues on Sunday to what’s in the controversial document.
In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Gowdy posed several questions to host Chris Wallace and his viewers that hinted at the allegations in the memo, which could be released by the House Intelligence Committee as early as this week.
“If you think your viewers want to know whether or not the dossier was used in court proceedings, whether or not it was vetted before it was used, whether or not it’s ever been vetted — if you are interested in who paid for the dossier, if you are interested in Christopher Steele’s relationship with Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, then, yes, you will want the memo to come out,” Gowdy told Wallace.
“Do you want to know that the Democratic National Committee paid for material that was never vetted, that was included in a court proceeding?” he asked rhetorically.
“Do you want to know whether or not the primary source in these court proceedings had a bias against one candidate? Do you want to know whether or not he said he’d do anything to keep that candidate from becoming president?”
Gowdy’s reference to a source who said they opposed Donald Trump is unclear, though he would seem to be talking about Christopher Steele, the former British spy who wrote the dossier.
Steele had been hired by Fusion GPS, an opposition research firm that was paid $1 million by the Clinton campaign and DNC to investigate Trump.
Steele met with FBI agents in July 2016 and several months later to discuss his investigation of Trump. The bureau and DOJ reportedly used Steele’s work in an application for a surveillance warrant taken out against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
Republican lawmakers have pressed the FBI and DOJ over how heavily they relied on the dossier for the warrant and for the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government. Republicans also want to know whether the agencies vetted the dossier prior to using it in any FISA application.
In a Senate hearing last June, former FBI Director James Comey called the dossier “salacious and unverified.”
Gowdy declined to confirm reports that the dossier was used to obtain the FISA warrant. He said that that information is classified at this point and he’s not allowed to discuss it. But Republicans will be able to get around that restriction if the Intelligence Committee votes to release the memo, which Gowdy helped write.
Democratic lawmakers have called the memo a set of talking points aimed at helping Trump, and the Justice Department sent a letter to committee chairman Devin Nunes calling the release “extremely reckless.”
In his interview, Gowdy said that he has suggested that Nunes allow the FBI and Justice Department to view the memo prior to its release. But he says that the information contained in the document is based on information already provided by those agencies.
“There’s nothing in this memo the Department is not already aware of,” Gowdy said on Sunday.
Watch Trey Gowdy discusses FISA memo
Oh Lordy, “Destruction of Evidence” – Important Interview Between Bob Goodlatte and Maria Bartiromo…
Believe whatever you want, but you are living in the past and baying at the moon. Perhaps I agree with you, but it doesn't matter. It is completely irrelevant now. Like I said, it is time to move on. You are not accomplishing anything at this point. The issue is a decade old.
My apologies. I did not know any of that. Your post was quite fascinating and jaw dropping for that matter. Wow...incredibly unfortunate. Wow. That really changes my perspective. Thanks for the post.
Another poster clued me in. I really did not know since I kept hearing Trump appointed him, but i now understand how that worked. He is dirty and it makes sense now.
Dude, I stopped watching all Sunday News Programs several years ago. I could not take the BS anymore.
A few months ago, I watched Chris Wallace on a Sunday, just to see . That guy sux.
Never again.
..... Time will Tell ......
So basically, the memo proves what we already know.
I think what we already know would amount to a lot more than just 4 pages. It's hard for me to imagine what's in this memo that's supposed to be so shocking.
I think it would be shocking to non-politicos, your more liberal, naive, middle class American and Republicans who haven’t taken Trump seriously.
The FBI can see it when the rest of us see it.
DACA participants have to renew each 2 years or something like that. Even the 9th Circuit agreed that taking no new applicants is okay, so at this point the argument is over accepting renewals.
From the wiki on Rosenstein:
Rod Jay Rosenstein (English pronunciation: born January 13, 1965) is the Deputy Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice.
Prior to his current appointment, he served as a United States Attorney for the District of Maryland. Rosenstein was a former nominee to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit. At the time of his confirmation as Deputy Attorney General in April 2017, he was the nation’s longest-serving U.S. attorney.
President Donald Trump announced his intention to nominate Rosenstein to serve as Deputy Attorney General for the United States Department of Justice on January 31, 2017. Rosenstein was confirmed by the U.S. Senate on April 25, 2017. In May 2017, he authored a memo which President Trump said was the basis of his decision to dismiss FBI Director James Comey. Later that month, Rosenstein appointed special counsel Robert Mueller to investigate ties between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election.
A number of his cases are featured on the TV show “Forensic Files”. His fame and fortune showcased.
> “ ... he was the nation’s longest-serving U.S. attorney.”
So what’s your point to quote Wiki?
As a kong serving US Attorney, he’s been a long-time employee of the DOJ in the Beltway sphere.
What did I write in #40?
“He was employed in DOJ during Obama’s reign in a job similarly to the one he has now. But he had no formal appointment.”
In other words, he’s a typical Beltway butt-kissing bureaucrat that will go along to get along.
Again, what’s your point?
Not so much to "rile" the base as to turn out the base in 2018.
I think that the Democrats have settled on a two-pronged approach: 1) deny Trump victories to depress his base (e.g., the recent DACA deals), and 2) focus on retaking the House.
The Mueller investigation is being used to lay the foundation for the Democrats 2018 GOTV plan, while Senate Democrats focus on the first prong of slowing down Trump's agenda.
-PJ
Just more information that some might not know - no hostility please.
Poor STrok. This is more than this turd. Hope it does not stop with him and his pet.
This morning's news confirms that indeed hiring Rosenstein was a mistake.
The DOJ answers to Trump. Trump wants the memo released.
The reason Rod Rosenstein doesn't want the memo released is because it will show that he was part of the the FISA warrant caper.
No, it doesn't.
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