Waiting for the FISA Memo

Posted on February 1, 2018

On January 29, 2018, after a contentious meeting (see the 51-page minutes of the meeting here), the House Intelligence Committee voted to release the now infamous 4-page FISA memo.

Reportedly, the vote to release the memo comes after committee Republicans, led by chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), 44, pushed for its disclosure.

Note: The FISA (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) memo has been described as so “shocking” and “explosive,” not only will officials in the U.S. intelligence “community” (FBI, DOJ, NSA) be fired, people will even go to jail. Reportedly, the memo says the Obama Administration’s FBI and Justice Department, using the bogus claim of Russian collusion, misused the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to gain the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court’s approval to conduct surveillance on then-candidate Donald Trump and his team. A 99-page document, United States Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court Memorandum Opinion and Order, that is said to be the background source of the FISA memo, also details how the Obama Administration’s National Security Agency (NSA) had conducted illegal surveillance and doxxing of American citizens.

It is now three days after the House Intelligence Committee’s vote to release the memo. So what’s holding it up?

Reportedly, FBI Director Chris Wray is opposed to the release. Yesterday, the FBI issued a “rare public statement” condemning the memo as factually inaccurate, the release of which could be detrimental to national security.

Nunes has dismissed the objections to the memo’s release as “spurious.”

The latest on the memo (ZeroHedge):

(1) Speaker of the House Paul Ryan dismissed Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer’s demands that Nunes resign. Ryan said “the vast majority of FBI employees are doing a great job,” but “if civil liberties were abused with FISA, then the memo needs to come out.”

(2) President Trump has consistently urged the release of the memo:

• Both Trump and Chief-of-Staff John Kelly have read the memo.
• The White House is working today to clear its release by having legal and national security experts review the document. The memo will then be sent back to Congress with a declaration that it has been declassified.
• Washington Post reporter Josh Dawsey says a “senior White House official”came to the back of Air Force One and told reporters President Trump has okayed release of the memo, and that Trump “will tell Congress” the memo will be released “probably tomorrow”(February 2). The official ” declined to take any questions or be identified publicly”.

(3) Some changes have been made to the memo, as requested by the FBI and Democrats. According to Byron York, chief political correspondent of the Washington Examiner, the changes are:

• An unknown number of “grammatical and clarifying” fixes.
• One change requested by the FBI due to sources and methods concerns.
• A two-word change requested by Democrats in the interest of “accuracy”.

Whether the changes have substantially altered the memo is anyone’s guess at this point.

Call me cynical. My guess is when it’s finally released, the FISA memo will be heavily redacted.