BFF-01 Trump, Republicans release memo targeting FBI’s Russia probe

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Trump, Republicans release memo targeting FBI’s Russia probe

WASHINGTON, Feb 3, 2018 (BSS/AFP) – Donald Trump and his Republican
allies unleashed a controversial memo accusing the FBI of bias and abuse of
power Friday, intensifying a high-stakes fight between the White House and
prosecutors investigating the president’s campaign team.

Trump defied his own FBI director and the Justice Department to declassify
the four-page Republican document, which implies malfeasance and partisanship
at the very top of American law enforcement.

“I think it’s a disgrace. What’s going on in this country, I think it’s a
disgrace,” a visibly tense Trump said as he announced his decision to release
the memo. “A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves and much worse
than that.”

Democrats and some Republicans have cried foul over the document,
dismissing its release as little more than a stunt, and another thinly veiled
effort to undermine the investigation into the Trump campaign’s ties with
Russia.

They claim the document — drafted by Devin Nunes, a Trump transition
official, Congressman and House Intelligence Committee chairman — has
glaring holes. The FBI itself said it had “grave concerns” over its accuracy.

The memo claims that Democrat-funded research prompted the FBI to spy on a
former Trump campaign aide, Carter Page.

In a subsequent statement, White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said
the document “raises serious concerns about the integrity of decisions made
at the highest levels of the Department of Justice and the FBI.”

Trump’s son Don Jr tweeted that it should be “game over” for the Russia
investigation.

Trump’s one-year-old presidency has been dominated by allegations that
multiple aides, including Don Jr and his son-in-law Jared Kushner, may have
coordinated with the Kremlin to defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton.

Special counsel Robert Mueller has already indicted two officials
including Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort, and two more campaign
officials have admitted lying to investigators — including onetime national
security advisor Michael Flynn.

The 71-year-old president has decried the allegations as fake news and a
Democratic plot. Mueller is soon expected to ask him to testify under oath
about what he knows.

– ‘Talk is cheap’ –

The memo’s release sent shockwaves across Washington, calling into
question the future of Trump’s hand-picked FBI Director Christopher Wray.

But he shrugged off attacks on the FBI’s independence and pledged to
defend his agents in an internal letter sent to staff on Friday and obtained
by AFP.

“Talk is cheap; the work you do is what will endure,” Wray wrote.

“Let me be clear: I stand fully committed to our mission… I stand with
you.”

The FBI had previously issued an extraordinary public warning against the
memo’s release, saying it contained “material omissions of fact that
fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.”

But perhaps the biggest question hung over deputy attorney general Rod
Rosenstein.

Rosenstein oversees the Russia investigation and has the power to fire
special counsel Mueller, because his boss, Attorney General Jeff Sessions,
recused himself.

He was the only law enforcement official named in the memo who has not
already been fired by Trump or moved from their post.

Trump, when asked if he has confidence in Rosenstein, told journalists in
the Oval Office: “You figure that one out.”

But the president faced intense pushback from Democrats in Congress, who
warned that any attempt to fire Rosenstein or Mueller would be seen as
obstruction.

“We write to inform you that we would consider such an unwarranted action
as an attempt to obstruct justice in the Russia investigation,” Senate
Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, House Minority Nancy Pelosi and eight other
key Democrats said in a statement.

“Firing Rod Rosenstein, DOJ Leadership, or Bob Mueller could result in a
constitutional crisis of the kind not seen since the Saturday Night
Massacre,” they said, referring to disgraced president Richard Nixon’s orders
to fire justice officials during the Watergate scandal.

Several senior Republican senators also weighed in to show their
displeasure.

“Our nation’s elected officials, including the president, must stop
looking at this investigation through the warped lens of politics and
manufacturing partisan sideshows,” said Senator John McCain.

BSS/AFP/MRI/0820 hrs