Posted on 01/28/2018 10:59:14 AM PST by Kaslin
Lawmakers have been reluctant to discuss a classified four-page memo alleging that the FBI and Justice Department abused the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in order to spy on Trump campaign associates, but South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy provided several clues on Sunday to what’s in the controversial document.
In an interview on “Fox News Sunday,” Gowdy posed several questions to host Chris Wallace and his viewers that hinted at the allegations in the memo, which could be released by the House Intelligence Committee as early as this week.
“If you think your viewers want to know whether or not the dossier was used in court proceedings, whether or not it was vetted before it was used, whether or not it’s ever been vetted — if you are interested in who paid for the dossier, if you are interested in Christopher Steele’s relationship with Hillary Clinton and the Democratic National Committee, then, yes, you will want the memo to come out,” Gowdy told Wallace.
“Do you want to know that the Democratic National Committee paid for material that was never vetted, that was included in a court proceeding?” he asked rhetorically.
“Do you want to know whether or not the primary source in these court proceedings had a bias against one candidate? Do you want to know whether or not he said he’d do anything to keep that candidate from becoming president?”
Gowdy’s reference to a source who said they opposed Donald Trump is unclear, though he would seem to be talking about Christopher Steele, the former British spy who wrote the dossier.
Steele had been hired by Fusion GPS, an opposition research firm that was paid $1 million by the Clinton campaign and DNC to investigate Trump.
Steele met with FBI agents in July 2016 and several months later to discuss his investigation of Trump. The bureau and DOJ reportedly used Steele’s work in an application for a surveillance warrant taken out against former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
Republican lawmakers have pressed the FBI and DOJ over how heavily they relied on the dossier for the warrant and for the investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russian government. Republicans also want to know whether the agencies vetted the dossier prior to using it in any FISA application.
In a Senate hearing last June, former FBI Director James Comey called the dossier “salacious and unverified.”
Gowdy declined to confirm reports that the dossier was used to obtain the FISA warrant. He said that that information is classified at this point and he’s not allowed to discuss it. But Republicans will be able to get around that restriction if the Intelligence Committee votes to release the memo, which Gowdy helped write.
Democratic lawmakers have called the memo a set of talking points aimed at helping Trump, and the Justice Department sent a letter to committee chairman Devin Nunes calling the release “extremely reckless.”
In his interview, Gowdy said that he has suggested that Nunes allow the FBI and Justice Department to view the memo prior to its release. But he says that the information contained in the document is based on information already provided by those agencies.
“There’s nothing in this memo the Department is not already aware of,” Gowdy said on Sunday.
Watch Trey Gowdy discusses FISA memo
Any information obtained through a FISA warrant, for example, probably cannot be used in a criminal prosecution -- so the DOJ cannot really publicly acknowledge that they know anything about it.
Boyd's letter to Nunes could very well be a backdoor invitation for Congress to "officially" tell the DOJ something the DOJ already knows but can't admit.
Already known by anyone with a Lick of Sense. He is just like his Old Man.
Hillary’s public silence over the last 4-6 weeks has been deafening. It’s almost like she got composted with the Christmas trees after they were taken down.
I only want him exposed as the fraud that he is, but unfortunately it exposes too many other frauds.
I flip around the channels on Sunday mornings for the cable news programs to see what the media is saying about the news in the past week.
For months now it has been nothing but "Trump colluded with Russia, Trump's campaign colluded with Russia, Trump is guilty of colluding with Russia, blah, blah, blah, yada, yada, yada".
But this morning, I noticed a distinct difference.
It was non-stop, "Did Trump obstruct justice?....Trump thought about firing Mueller last summer....Isn't that obstruction of justice?"
Now just "thinking" about doing something has turned into a felonious, impeachable offense according to the MSM.
Forget collusion with Russia. Now the target of the MSM is Trump's obstruction of justice.
I don't watch the cable news the rest of the week, just Sunday mornings.
I don't know why I punish myself on Sunday mornings.
I’m not interested in clues, Trey.
All we need is just ONE leaker - Julian Assange, perhaps? Alan Dershowitz, haha. Only takes one person who loves this country more than the Swamp.
It’s dragging out too long.
The time for maximum impact was last week.
It sounds like some of the stings set up in Chicago before they cleaned house of 200+. Decades ago.
You can bet they are wearing wires and their phones are tapped.
It is a certainty that the aggregate of the damning evidence is far too large and technically complex for release at once.
In addition to the controlled release there must be some rumors describing how the evidence will be used and how the grand juries will be established and used and then how the prosecutions will be conducted.
Time and precise control are required for this very important tool in the draining of the swamp
.... I read an article this morning from the Canada Free Press that stated that when the “Memo” is finally released it was going to be redacted .... Which would take much, if not all, of the sting out of it making it quite inert. So it’s probably wise to not get too excited at this point. With the names redacted it will have zero effect on the public.
Whose side is Gowdy on? He said he has “100% confidence in Mueller!”
Mueller is 100% on the Democrap’s side. And the media too.
They are at war with us. TheY want to destroy us.
For God’s sake why did Gowdy say that?
Subpoena means little in cases of this magnitude. Manafort will get his dismissal before any document is ever released. that will make it “MOOT”. Subpoena and Court Orders are part of the problem in this immediate case. We still don’t have HRC’s emails. We still don’t have the IRS Docs. We have nothing on Fast & Furious. Meuller will NEVER release any damming info. We have to obtain inof thru other channels.
The Democrats march on and we are played for idiots. What has Gowdy ever really done except run his mouth.
I’ve been saying the same for a while...it’s cover for the GOP since they wont pass anymore of Trump’s agenda....instead, they toss out the investigations, the allegations, the text messages, the memo....we’ve seen this act before....
Heck, even if the memo is damning, unless DOJ presses charges and people go to jail, it wont have much impact on anyone.
So many on FR think Clinton and Obama et al are going to jail....not happening, not now, not ever.
Who is appointing this Special Prosecutor?
I don't know why he'd think that. The DOJ has been stonewalling and ignoring document requests from congressional committees since early in the Obama administration and not much has apparently changed since Sessions has been in charge, if he is in charge of this aspect.
Don't allow them to review a damned thing until they become fully compliant with lawful requests for information from the oversight committee.
“What do you Feepers who are constantly defending Roosterhead
have to say about this new development?”
It’s 3D chess?
But here's something to consider ...
Manafort's lawyers may serve the subpoena on Congress instead ... and Rep. Devin Nunes will be more than happy to oblige and turn all the documents over.
Now the reason for the contrived DOJ opposition to the release of the memo becomes more obvious.
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