Whatever hope Democrats had of disproving the controversial claims in the memo released last week by Rep. Devin Nunes detailing FBI surveillance abuse just went out the window.
Democrats, led by Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, were hoping to have their own memo declassified this week, undercutting the claims made in the Nunes memo that the FBI willfully manipulated the FISA court in order to obtain a warrant on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
But a newly released and unredacted criminal referral for Christopher Steele, the ex-British spy who compiled the infamous Trump dossier for the FBI, authored by senators Chuck Grassley and Lindsey Graham is bolstering the claims made in the Nunes memo.
From Mollie Hemingway of the Federalist:
A criminal referral from top Senate investigators confirms explosive charges in last week’s House Intelligence Committee memo regarding abuse of surveillance authorities at the FBI and Department of Justice. It also reveals a host of problems arising from the bureau’s cooperation with foreign investigator Christopher Steele, who was working on behalf of Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. The eight-page memo from Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Crime and Terrorism Subcommittee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) includes underlying evidence to support the claims.
Here is the key part:
“It appears the FBI relied on admittedly uncorroborated information, funded by and obtained for Secretary Clinton’s presidential campaign, in order to conduct surveillance of an associate of the opposing presidential candidate. It did so based on Mr. Steele’s personal credibility and presumably having faith in his process of obtaining the information. But there is substantial evidence suggesting that Mr. Steele materially misled the FBI about a key aspect of his dossier efforts, one which bears on his credibility,” Sens. Graham and Grassley wrote.
Grassley and Graham blame Steele for his “apparent deception” when it came to using faulty information in order to smear Trump. This false intelligence was then used a pretext to issue a warrant to spy on Carter Page. The referral recommends that Steele be charged with lying to the U.S. government.
Share this breaking news with others now! The Nunes memo just got a lot more credibility!
