Posted on 01/28/2018 2:46:17 PM PST by EdnaMode
The House Intelligence Committee meets at 5 p.m. Monday in the Capitol. The meeting will give the committee its first opportunity to vote on the question of releasing the so-called "FISA abuse" memo that has captured Washington's attention in recent days. Since the GOP holds a 13 to 9 advantage on the committee, the overwhelming likelihood is that if there is a vote, the panel will decide, along party lines, to release the memo.
At that point, House rules call for the committee to await a decision by the president on whether he supports or opposes release of the memo. President Trump has made clear he supports release, so the memo could be made public quickly.
The public might also learn committee Democrats' plans for a counter-memo. Ranking member Rep. Adam Schiff has accused Republicans of cherry-picking and distorting the intelligence underlying the GOP memo, and last Wednesday announced that Democrats would "draft our own memorandum, setting out the relevant facts and exposing the misleading character of the Republicans' document."
Schiff said that at Monday's meeting he will move for a committee vote to make the Democratic memorandum available to all members of the House — a mirror image of the committee's Jan. 18 vote to make the Republican memo available to the House.
It is unclear what the Republican majority's reaction will be if Democrats produce a memo and demand a vote. Obviously, Democrats will not win if the two parties disagree, but it's not clear what each side's tactics will be.
Meanwhile, the Justice Department continues to oppose publication of the Republican memo. In a Jan. 24 letter to Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd said it would be "extraordinarily reckless" for the panel to release the memo without giving the Justice Department and the FBI a chance to read it and object.
The Boyd letter is just the latest point of contention between Congress and the Justice Department and FBI over the Trump-Russia affair. Republican oversight committees have complained about Justice-FBI "stonewalling" (House Speaker Paul Ryan's word) of congressional requests for information, especially concerning the Trump dossier.
Now, though, it appears that Attorney General Jeff Sessions — who remains recused from the Trump-Russia affair — is trying to send conciliatory signals to Congress on the oversight issue. In a speech in Norfolk, Va. on Friday, Sessions suggested the Justice Department has been too "defensive" in handling criticism.
"We don't see criticism from Congress as a bad thing," Sessions said. "We welcome Congress as a partner in this effort [to improve the Justice Department]. When they learn of a problem and start asking questions, that is a good thing. Sunlight truly is the best disinfectant. Truth produces confidence."
"A culture of defensiveness is not acceptable," Sessions concluded.
Upon hearing Sessions' speech, a number of Republicans had a reaction along the lines of: That's nice — now, how about doing something about it? It's not clear if Sessions' words will have any effect on the current impasse. After all, having recused himself from the Trump-Russia affair, the attorney general is not making the decisions.
Now, the battle goes on. The next 72 hours could be critical in the case of the memo: a possible vote to release it, a presidential go-ahead, and, most importantly, public evaluation and analysis of its contents. Does it live up to some Republicans' characterizations of it? Are Democratic criticisms accurate? Does its release, in fact, damage national security? It could be a very eventful week.
I just have no faith in this government or those who run it. I am very sorry for President Trump, I believe he thought that all elected to office were Americans first and whatever else later. I think he believed that democrats and republicans wanted America great again for Americans...they do not.
#ReleaseTheMemo, #MeMoToo, #IamNota RussianBot, #PencilNeckSchiff, #DemocratsAreFullOfSchiff
“Democrats would “draft our own memorandum”
after it’s drafted(TIME CONSUMING).....then they would want the House to view it before the Republican memo is released...why didn’t they have this discussion weeks ago instead of just trying to block it
translation: lets delay more....it would be even longer BEFORE THE PUBLIC SEES ANYTHING...it has been 10 days since congress has seen it
is Jeff Sessions softening his stance?
Only because DJT squeezed his head in a vice.
Sessions is more interested in the fictional reputation of the fbi and doj.
The committee Republicans should vote in favor of releasing the Dims’ counter-memo to the whole House. Nune’s Memo will be released to the public before the contents of the counter-memo are leaked. LOL
Sure would be nIce if the Republican Attorney General worked as hard to ENFORCE the law; as the Democratis Attorney General worked to break the law.
that is where it wold get interesting...
should both memo’s be released to the public at the same time...
or will the Democrats version need a different vote to get made public even though it has the same classified info in it?
we all know if the situation were reversed the Democrats would block any other version from being released even to the house
tired of our side taking the high road.....
Maybe sessions is getting told that it will be redacted. No point in releasing a heavily redacted memo.
I think it is a mistake to release a GOP only product which does not - cannot - cause anyone to be indicted or prosecuted.
They meet at 5:00 pm??? Stall tactic?
Bump!
” ... should both memo’s be released to the public at the same time ...”
Excellent
There is no Democrap memo. This is a full bluff. Sure they could whip up something. Whoever submits false information will be going to Prison. This is too big and has no place to hide. You are correct in the delay, delay mode. Dems can’t oppose the Memo and their own memo would be fraud. If the Dems had anything they would have used it. This is their Little Big Horn!
Any interpretation of what is going on right now without considering the Q posts is useless. Trust Sessions.
I would hope if both memos are released it would be time to put up or shut up, in other words release the underlying documentation. If it is voted on Monday evening and Trump lets it go Tuesday the timing would be perfect. Oh yeah, F Sessions.
What is your list of alternatives?
The DOJ wants to control the release because of national security concerns they say. They will redact the hale out of it. Give it to Mueller to check off on too. It'll be sterilized so much that it will become a bad joke, even if they do release it.
The contents of the memo were distilled from thousands of pages of records from the FBI and DOJ to the Congress. So they already know the contents. And it is no doubt damaging.
The Congress has oversight of the DOJ. Not the other way around. And yet the tail is wagging the dog here. Release the memo without their interference. The Congress doesn't take directions from the DOJ.
The game playing by the DOJ and FBI with the Congress borders on criminal. This "gamesmanship" I've heard it called in articles, is called stalling and obstructing justice in English. How ironic that the very department that's charged with investigating obstruction of justice, are they themselves obstructing justice.
President Trump, please continue draining the DC swamp. There's still plenty of slimy critters creating a stench.
If their memo contains some false info, then there would be a huge problem. It would then not qualify for release to the public.
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