memeorandum: The DNC is reportedly ‘dead broke.’ The RNC has nearly $40 million. (Kelly O'Meara Morales/The Week)

11:15 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: The Hill, RedState, 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.

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, The Moderate Voice, ThinkProgress and Vox

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

Tim Arango / New York Times:

Washington Is Abuzz Over the Nunes Memo. His California District, Not So Much. — VISALIA, Calif. — As Washington was abuzz Friday over the release of a classified memo, Democrats and Republicans were up in arms over its allegations. And right in the middle was Devin Nunes …

Discussion: Los Angeles Times

Alexi McCammond / Axios:

Nunes didn't read the FISA applications mentioned in memo — Rep. Devin Nunes, who led the release of the memo, admitted to Fox News' Bret Baier that he hadn't read the FISA documents that made up the basis of the memo. — Why it matters: The memo is largely based on the argument …

Discussion: Fox News, The Daily Beast and Joe.My.God.

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, The Guardian, Politico, WGN-TV, neo-neocon, ThinkProgress, New Republic, Shareblue Media, israpundit.org, NBC News and Business Insider

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

Paul Rosenzweig / Politico:
Even If You Take the Nunes Memo Seriously, It Makes No Sense

Discussion: The Intercept, VICE, New York Times, Lawfare, Breitbart, The Daily Beast and ABC News

Eli Lake / Bloomberg: The Memo Is Neither ‘Treasonous’ Nor ‘Worse Than Watergate’

Wall Street Journal:
A Reckoning for the FBI — The House memo reveals disturbing facts …

Discussion: Breitbart

Jenna Lifhits / Weekly Standard: Nunes: More Memos Are Coming

Jeremy Herb / CNN:
The Nunes memo: 5 takeaways

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

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
Trump's Saturday Night Massacre Is Already Happening

Discussion: Don Surber, New York Times, Washington Post, The Guardian, twitchy.com, The Daily Beast and IJR

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

Discussion: twitchy.com

Darren Samuelsohn / Politico:
Trump escalates his war with U.S. law enforcement after memo release

Discussion: Althouse, Breitbart, ABC News, The Stream and Patterico's Pontifications

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

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

Discussion: Liberty Unyielding and The Daily Caller

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

Discussion: Liberty Unyielding, NPR and Raw Story

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

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

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

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

Discussion: Axios, Breitbart, Shareblue Media, CNNMoney, The Daily Beast, bizpacreview.com, Splinter and Hullabaloo

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: Shareblue Media, Raw Story, Mediaite and Florida Politics

Axios:

Exclusive poll: GOP turns on FBI — President Trump's hammering on the FBI — and green-lighting yesterday of the Russia memo's release over Bureau objections — is having a profound effect: — A SurveyMonkey poll for Axios finds that not even 40% of Republicans approve …

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

This Is Why Uma Thurman Is Angry — The actress is finally ready to talk about Harvey Weinstein. — Yes, Uma Thurman is mad. — She has been raped. She has been sexually assaulted. She has been mangled in hot steel. She has been betrayed and gaslighted by those she trusted.

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.

Tracy Jan / Washington Post:

He helped Halle Berry and Taraji Henson to stardom. Now 9 minority women are accusing him of sexual harassment. … LOS ANGELES — Tamika Lamison was a 27-year-old stage actress living in New York City in June 1996 when she stepped into Hollywood manager Vincent Cirrincione's hotel suite …

Discussion: IndieWire, Deadline and AOL

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.

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

Crispian Balmer / Reuters:

African migrants injured in Italian drive-by shootings: police — ROME (Reuters) - An Italian man opened fire on African migrants in the central city of Macerata on Saturday, injuring several people, police said, in an attack that appeared to be racially motivated.

Discussion: CNN, The Daily Caller and The Week

New York Times:

Long Dominant in Statehouses, Republicans Brace for Energized Democrats — NEWTOWN, Pa. — For Republicans in the states, the political warning signs keep mounting: In Virginia, it was an electoral shellacking that nearly snapped their 20-year grip on the State House.

Discussion: Raw Story

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 »

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