memeorandum: How Trump's Allies Fanned an Ember of Controversy Into Flames of Outrage (Mark Mazzetti/New York Times)

9:40 AM ET, February 3, 2018

Top Items:

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:

Justice Dept. told court of source's political influence in request to wiretap ex-Trump campaign aide, officials say … The court that approved surveillance of a former campaign adviser to President Trump was aware that some of the information underpinning the warrant request was paid …

Discussion: NPR, Althouse and Business Insider

QJurecic / Lawfare:

Thoughts on the Nunes Memo: We Need to Talk About Devin — After more than two weeks of mounting anticipation and hype, the memo on alleged surveillance abuses prepared by Rep. Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, has finally been #released.

Wall Street Journal:

GOP Memo Escalates Clash Over Russia Probe — Release comes after the FBI expressed ‘grave concerns’ over the accuracy of the document — WASHINGTON—A Republican memo released Friday by the House of Representatives alleges abuses in how top law-enforcement officials sought the surveillance …

Discussion: Senator Susan Collins

Mark Mazzetti / New York Times:

How Trump's Allies Fanned an Ember of Controversy Into Flames of Outrage — WASHINGTON — The release of the memo mattered less than #releasethememo. — After weeks of buildup, the three-and-a-half-page document about alleged F.B.I. abuses during the 2016 presidential campaign made public …

Discussion: The Guardian and ThinkProgress

David French / National Review:

The Big Flaw in the Memo — It may have just confirmed a key New York Times scoop. — From the moment that the so-called Steele dossier burst onto the public scene, thoughtful observers have wondered what role its “salacious and unverified” accusations played in the opening …

Discussion: Washington Post, WGN-TV, neo-neocon, ThinkProgress, Vox, Shareblue Media, Politico, NBC News, NPR and Just Security

Del Quentin Wilber / Wall Street Journal:

Inside the FBI Life of Peter Strzok and Lisa Page, as Told in Their Text Messages — Exchanges between agent and lawyer show dedication to bureau—but no hesitation to criticize colleagues and Trump — WASHINGTON—In the summer of 2016, FBI Agent Peter Strzok had just wrapped up the investigation …

Discussion: Hit & Run, Axios, Business Insider and Talking Points Memo

Phillip Carter / Slate:

Survival at All Costs — On its face, the so-called Nunes memo regarding government surveillance of Trump campaign aide Carter Page in 2016 does little to undermine the case against President Trump and his confederates. It does not contradict the indictments against Paul Manafort …

Discussion: New York Times, Raw Story, Booman Tribune, NewsBusters, Mediaite, ThinkProgress, The Moderate Voice and Vox

Paul Rosenzweig / Politico:

Even If You Take the Nunes Memo Seriously, It Makes No Sense — Let's leave aside for now the obvious partisan nature of the Nunes memorandum—the four-page document released Friday by the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, California Rep. Devin Nunes.

Discussion: The Daily Beast and Breitbart

Jenna Lifhits / Weekly Standard:

Nunes: More Memos Are Coming — Nunes explains next steps to The Weekly Standard. — Update: Devin Nunes clarifies his comments as reported below. He tells TWS that his investigation will produce more reports, but he will release the information in a traditional manner. — “This was phase one.

Bryan Logan / Business Insider:
Devin Nunes admits he didn't view the underlying intelligence his memo was based on

Discussion: twitchy.com

Alexi McCammond / Axios:
Nunes didn't read the FISA applications mentioned in memo

Discussion: Fox News and Joe.My.God.

Karen Tumulty / Washington Post:
Sentence buried in GOP memo may undercut Trump efforts to discredit Russia probe

Discussion: Breitbart, Sputnik International, Fox News, Mashable, bizpacreview.com, The Daily Caller, IJR, Raw Story, No More Mister Nice Blog, CNBC, Axios, Bangor Daily News, Joe.My.God., The Gateway Pundit, The Week, Outside the Beltway, www.wnyc.org and Sunlight Foundation

Chris Buskirk / American Greatness: Worse than Watergate — The FISA Abuse Memo is out and now …

U.S. House of Representatives Permanent Selection …:
House Intelligence Committee Minority Response to Release of Chairman Nunes' Misleading Memo

Discussion: Bloomberg, PolitiFact, New York Times, Lawfare, Townhall.com, Breitbart, Washington Post, National Review, NPR, IJR, ThinkProgress, repubHub, Vox, Daily Kos, NBC News, Washington Monthly, Washington Examiner, Axios, twitchy.com, Althouse and The Atlantic

John Harwood / CNBC: Trump and the House GOP face an uphill battle against the FBI and the Justice Department

Jonathan Chait / New York Magazine:
The Backwards Logic of the Nunes Memo

Discussion: National Review, NBC News, Media Matters for America, Washington Post and Hit & Run

Matt Ford / New Republic:
Trump Just Shot Himself in the Foot

Discussion: Shareblue Media, National Review, Washington Post, Newsweek, Just Security, Reuters, israpundit.org, Breitbart, Splinter, Business Insider, The Gateway Pundit, NBC News, Balloon Juice, Talking Points Memo, CBS San Francisco, KTLA and Mother Jones

Jeremy Herb / CNN:
The Nunes memo: 5 takeaways

Discussion: New York Times, KTLA, The Daily Beast, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES, The Guardian, Talking Points Memo, IJR, ThinkProgress and The Atlantic

acast:
Skullduggery, Episode 4: The spy, the reporter and the memo — the inside story

Discussion: The Daily Caller

Patterico / RedState:
A Significant Inaccuracy in #TheMemo Calls Its Credibility Into Question

Discussion: Politico, Axios, Talking Points Memo, The Daily Beast, Right Wing Watch, Washington Post, Vox, Hit & Run, The Mahablog and Joe.My.God.

Oliver Darcy / CNNMoney:
Conservative media receives key points from Nunes memo before other news outlets

Discussion: Business Insider, Politico, Shareblue Media, Splinter and Hullabaloo

Andrew Kirell / The Daily Beast:
Snowden Bashes Nunes: I Was More Careful With Gov't Secrets Than You Are

Discussion: Liberty Unyielding and Raw Story

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

Discussion: Breitbart, Talking Points Memo, Politico, CBS News, NPR, ABC News, Axios and Fox News Insider

Cristiano Lima / Politico:
GOP lawmaker calls for FBI, DOJ officials to face ‘treason’ charges

Discussion: ABC News, The Daily Beast, Shareblue Media and bizpacreview.com

Zachary Basu / Axios:
Adam Schiff: White House will be forced to release Democrats' memo

Discussion: IJR and ABC News

Jonathan Swan / Axios:
Exclusive: Conservative group calls for Rod Rosenstein's head

Discussion: The Daily Beast, Townhall.com and Geller Report

Josh Campbell / New York Times:

Why I Am Leaving the F.B.I. — One of the greatest honors of my life was walking across the stage at the F.B.I. Academy and receiving my special agent badge from the director at the time, Robert Mueller. After 21 weeks of intensive training, my class swore an oath and became federal agents entrusted …

Discussion: Mediaite

Karin Brulliard / Washington Post:

Nigel, the world's loneliest bird, dies next to the concrete decoy he loved … Nigel, a handsome gannet bird who lived on a desolate island off the coast of New Zealand, died suddenly this week. Wherever his soul has landed, the singles scene surely cannot be worse.

Discussion: Althouse, The Guardian, twitchy.com, Mashable and Gizmodo

David D. Kirkpatrick / New York Times:

Secret Alliance: Israel Carries Out Airstrikes in Egypt, With Cairo's O.K. — The jihadists in Egypt's Northern Sinai had killed hundreds of soldiers and police officers, pledged allegiance to the Islamic State, briefly seized a major town and begun setting up armed checkpoints to claim territory.

Josh Rogin / Washington Post:

National Security Council official behind 5G memo leaves White House … The author of a memo arguing for a government takeover of development of the nation's 5G mobile network has been removed from the National Security Council staff. The memo's unauthorized release this week caused uproar …

Discussion: Axios

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: Hullabaloo, Outside the Beltway, New Republic, The Gateway Pundit, Washington Post, CNN, Daily Kos, Mediaite, TheBlaze, KTLA, IJR, Raw Story, Breitbart, CBS New York and Liberty Unyielding

Ryan Mac / BuzzFeed:

Peter Thiel Bid For Gawker.com. Now He May Want To Turn It Into A Conservative Investigative News Site. — Peter Thiel, the billionaire venture capitalist and Facebook board member who secretly bankrolled lawsuits to undermine Gawker Media, said he might turn the now-defunct news …

more at Mediagazer »

Joseph A. Wulfsohn / Mediaite:

Hannity on Memo: ‘If We Care About The Constitution,’ Mueller Probe ‘Must Be Disbanded Immediately’ — On Friday night, Sean Hannity sounded the alarms after the controversial GOP memo was made public. — The Fox News host began by touting his own coverage of the scandal for being “ahead of the curve” for months.