memeorandum: ‘Never any hesitation’: Trump was quickly persuaded to support memo's release (Washington Post)

3:25 PM ET, February 2, 2018

Top Items:

House Intelligence memo released: What it says — The House Intelligence Committee has released its controversial memo outlining alleged abuses of secret surveillance by the FBI and Justice Department in the Trump-Russia investigation. Here are some key points:

Discussion: RedState, Vox Popoli, Don Surber, The Gateway Pundit, Liberty Unyielding, IJR, American Digest, Raw Story, JustOneMinute and Conservative Review

U.S. House of Representatives Permanent Selection …:

House Intelligence Committee Minority Response to Release of Chairman Nunes' Misleading Memo — f t # e — Washington, DC - Today, the Minority of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence responded to the release of HPSCI Chairman Nunes' memo:

Discussion: Washington Monthly, Vox, ThinkProgress, The Atlantic, Talking Points Memo, NBC News, repubHub, Daily Kos and Althouse

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:

Russia probe lawyers think Mueller could indict Trump — Special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia investigation has gathered enough steam that some lawyers representing key Donald Trump associates are considering the possibility of a historic first: an indictment against a sitting president.

Discussion: Shakesville, Taylor Marsh, RedState, Washington Post, IJR, Politicus USA, Raw Story and CNN

Joe Walsh / Washington Post:

Devin Nunes is acting like a partisan hack. That's just how I remember him. — My former colleague doesn't seem to grasp what his job in Congress is. — I served in Congress with Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.). Based on my experience working with him, nothing about the way he's behaving …

Discussion: Raw Story

Washington Post:

GOP memo criticizing FBI surveillance is released … A GOP memo alleging surveillance abuses by the FBI has been released, intensifying a fight between the White House and Republican lawmakers, on one side, and the nation's top law enforcement agency over whether the origins of a probe …

Discussion: News, East Bay Express, Outside the Beltway, Sunlight Foundation, Balloon Juice and www.wnyc.org

CNN:

Disputed GOP-Nunes memo released — (CNN)House Republicans, with the approval of President Donald Trump, on Friday released a disputed GOP intelligence memo that alleges FBI abuses of its surveillance authority. — The highly controversial memo from the GOP and Rep. Devin Nunes alleges …

Discussion: Vox, KFOR-TV, Daily Kos, CBS Sacramento, KTLA, FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV, Mother Jones, RedState, The Gateway Pundit, The Liberty Review and Politico

Washington Post:

Read the GOP memo — The Nunes memo is a document created by the staff of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) that alleges the FBI abused its surveillance authority, particularly when it sought a secret court order to monitor a former Trump campaign adviser.

Discussion: RedState, No More Mister Nice Blog and Joe.My.God.

Kimberley A. Strassel / Wall Street Journal:

Memo Reading for Nonpartisans — Ignore the spin. When the document goes public, here's what to look for. — The White House looks set to release the House Intelligence Committee memo on 2016 government surveillance abuses, which means the attacks on the document by Democrats …

Axios:

The Nunes memo has been released — President Trump has approved the release, without redactions, of the classified Nunes memo on alleged FISA abuses, a White House official told Axios. The release was vehemently opposed by the intelligence community, with the FBI issuing a rare public statement …

Discussion: Breitbart

Fox News:

House memo states disputed dossier was key to FBI's FISA warrant to surveil members of Team Trump — A memo that shows alleged government surveillance abuse has been released and includes testimony from a high-ranking government official who says without the infamous Trump dossier …

Discussion: Congressman Jerrold Nadler, Geller Report, Raw Story, IJR, Fox News Insider, bizpacreview.com and twitchy.com

New York Times:

House Republicans Release Nunes Memo Accusing Russia Investigators of Bias — 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.

Axios:
White House sees price for release of Nunes memo

Discussion: Politico, New Republic, The Gateway Pundit, Business Insider, The Daily Caller, The Week, Fox17, Talking Points Memo and Media Matters for America

Spencer Ackerman / The Daily Beast:
Sources: Devin Nunes Memo Is ‘100%’ Wrong About Andrew McCabe and Steele Dossier

Discussion: CBS News, Breitbart, National Review and Washington Times

Zack Beauchamp / Vox:
The Nunes memo is a dud

Discussion: Mother Jones, ThinkProgress, New York Magazine, Lawyers, Guns & Money, NPR, The Guardian, Shareblue Media and Washington Post

Cecilia Vega / ABC News:
President Trump authorizes release of controversial GOP memo with no redactions

Discussion: Politico, bizpacreview.com, Breitbart, Patterico's Pontifications, The Stream, The Gateway Pundit, Mediaite, Shakesville and The Root

The Daily Beast:
Sean Hannity Has Been Advising Donald Trump on the Nunes Memo, Because of Course He Has

Spencer Ackerman / The Daily Beast:
Trump Wages War on FBI, Justice Department With Release of Nunes Memo

Discussion: Politico, Axios, Washington Post, Business Insider, IJR, NPR, CBS Chicago, Roll Call and Talking Points Memo

Washington Post:
‘Never any hesitation’: Trump was quickly persuaded to support memo's release

Discussion: Little Green Footballs, Talking Points Memo, Politico, The Hill, Business Insider, CNN, New York Magazine, AOL, RedState, Washington Times, No More Mister Nice Blog, Daily Kos, The Week, Associated Press, CBS San Francisco and IJR

CBS News:
GOP memo released: Live updates

Discussion: Talking Points Memo, Politico, Axios, Breitbart, CNBC, The Daily Caller, Associated Press, CBS Chicago, The Gateway Pundit, The Week, CBS Pittsburgh and twitchy.com

Brian Flood / Fox News:
Media's longtime crusade for transparency ends with Nunes memo as ‘The Post’ remains in theaters

Discussion: Shareblue Media, New York Times, Just Security and Washington Post

Washington Post:
A process that tarnishes the House

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Townhall.com, Shareblue Media, Talking Points Memo, Business Insider, Breitbart, The Guardian, NBC News, MSNBC, bizpacreview.com, The Daily Caller, CNBC, The Week, Daily Kos, IJR and Crooked Media

The Federalist:
The House Intel Memo On FISA Abuse Was Just Released. Read It Here

Discussion: Politico, RedState, bizpacreview.com and The Week

Ben Riley-Smith / Telegraph:
Donald Trump's FBI memo release ‘risks revealing British spying methods’

Discussion: Shareblue Media and Raw Story

Alex Isenstadt / Politico:

Trump rips into Kasich at RNC dinner — The president also described to the audience how he aced a mental acuity test. — President Donald Trump on Thursday evening, tore into Ohio Gov. John Kasich, a GOP rival and potential 2020 primary challenger. — Appearing before a Republican …

Discussion: Joe.My.God. and The Daily Caller

Charlie Spiering / Breitbart:

After Sending Media Away, President Donald Trump Joked with RNC About Mental Test — President Donald Trump spoke at an RNC meeting at the Trump International hotel, but the White House press pool was escorted out after he derided them as “haters.” — Breitbart News obtained an audio recording …

Discussion: Washington Examiner, Mediaite, Business Insider, RedState and New York Magazine

Desmond Butler / Associated Press:

Senator seeks documents on Russia money links to the NRA — WASHINGTON (AP) — A top Democrat is seeking documents from the National Rifle Association and the Treasury Department following reports of an FBI investigation into whether a Russian central banker funneled money to the group during the 2016 presidential campaign.

Discussion: ThinkProgress, Talking Points Memo and Roll Call

Bloomberg:
Treasury Warns of Wide Impact If U.S. Sanctions Russian Debt

Discussion: IJR, emptywheel and The Week

Katelyn Polantz / CNN:

Judge denies CNN request for Comey memos of Trump conversations — Washington (CNN)The Justice Department will not have to release memos written by former FBI Director James Comey about conversations he had with President Donald Trump, a federal judge ruled Friday.

Massimo Calabresi / TIME:
How Donald Trump Is Sowing Distrust in American Justice

Discussion: Political Wire

Wall Street Journal:

Ahead of Super Bowl, Poll Shows NFL Is Losing Its Core Audience — Adults who report following the NFL closely have dropped 9% since 2014, the poll finds. Just 51% of men aged 18 to 49 say they follow the NFL closely, down from 75% four years ago. — Ahead of a Super Bowl that caps …

Discussion: Breitbart, The Daily Caller, AOL, The Week and The Liberty Review

CNBC:

Dow falls 400 points as interest rates shoot higher, stocks head for worst week in 2 years — The U.S. economy added 200,000 jobs in January. Economists polled by Reuters expected growth of 180,000.

Discussion: USA Today and The Week

Linda Stansberry / News Blog, North Coast Journal:

Not Missing in Humboldt: Bachelor Contestant Bekah Martinez — It turns out Rebekah Martinez is not missing at all. Quite the contrary, actually, she's on a popular nationally televised show: The Bachelor, which you might have heard of. — When posting this week's cover story to Facebook …

Discussion: KTLA, The Blast, Washington Post, The Big Lead, Mashable, Decider, thecut and Glamour

New York Daily News:

Bronx teacher sparks outrage for using black students in cruel slavery lesson — Kids and parents say this Bronx teacher needs a lesson — in racism. — Middle School 118 teacher Patricia Cummings shocked and traumatized children in her social studies classes when she singled out black students …

Discussion: TheBlaze, WPIX 11 New York, The Root and AOL

Brian Feldman / New York Magazine:

HQ Is Raising Some Funding ... From Peter Thiel — Have you heard of HQ? If you haven't read 8 bajillion blog posts about it, know that it's a cultural-phenomenon quiz show that 1.5 million tune in to daily. You might be heartened to know that HQ has, according to a report from Recode …

Discussion: Recode, Mashable and Gizmodo, more at Techmeme »

Arizona Republic:

Next Slide — Even before the vote, tensions escalated inside the House building. — Mesnard said Shooter alarmed some colleagues as he walked the halls, popping into offices and saying, “It's a great day for a hanging.” — That led Mesnard, accompanied by law enforcement …

Patterico / RedState:

A Significant Inaccuracy in #TheMemo Calls Its Credibility Into Question — Amid all the excitement over the Devin Nunes #TheMemo, it is important to remember that it is a partisan summary of FISA warrant applications that we the People have not been allowed to see.

CNN:

Emails show Carson family fingerprints at HUD despite warnings — Washington (CNN)Newly obtained documents show the extensive involvement that family members of Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson, especially his son, Benjamin Jr., play in official business, despite strong warnings from agency lawyers.

mccain.senate.gov:

STATEMENT BY SASC CHAIRMAN JOHN McCAIN ON PARTISAN ATTACKS ON THE FBI & DOJ — Washington, D.C. - U.S. Senator John McCain (R-AZ), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, released the following statement on partisan attacks on the FBI and Department of Justice:

Discussion: Breitbart, The Gateway Pundit, IJR and Mediaite

John Santucci / ABC News:

Legal fund in development to help Trump administration and campaign staff pay legal bills in Russia probe — Lawyers are laying the groundwork for a new legal defense fund to aid those who have at one point served candidate and now President Donald Trump and who have been pulled into the ongoing Russia probe.

Discussion: Politico