The secret GOP memo is the story of the week and likely trigger for the market's sharp sell-off after an impressive run of gains. Another trigger for the sell-off: Interest rate angst trips up U.S. equity bull market.
(Click here for the full memo via The Washington Post.)
Via WaPo: The Nunes memo is a document created by the staff of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) that alleges the FBI abused its surveillance authority, particularly when it sought a secret court order to monitor a former Trump campaign adviser. The FBI and the Justice Department had lobbied strenuously against its release. On Wednesday, the FBI had said it was “gravely concerned” that key facts were missing from the memo. President approves release of GOP memo criticizing FBI surveillance.
Trump ironically calls what's happening in this country a disgrace.
President Trump declassified the highly controversial Republican memo on Friday, despite a plea from the F.B.I. not to release it. By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS. Photo by Eric Thayer for The New York Times.
A Tale of Two Memos:
There are now two memos agitating Washington. One from Representative Devin Nunes and one from Representative Adam B. Schiff. Feeling confused? You’re not alone. By DREW JORDAN, CHRIS CIRILLO and SARAH STEIN KERR on Publish Date February 2, 2018. NY Times.
Read also:
House Republicans Release Secret Memo Accusing Russia Investigators of Bias (NY Times)
House Republicans released a politically charged memo on Friday that accused F.B.I. and Justice Department leaders of abusing their surveillance powers to spy on a former Trump campaign adviser suspected of being an agent of Russia.
Release of disputed GOP memo on FBI surveillance unleashes waves of recrimination (Washington Post)
A GOP memo declassified on Friday accused senior law enforcement officials of misleading a court in order to conduct surveillance on a former Trump campaign adviser, fueling a growing distrust between the White House and Republicans on one side and the Justice Department and FBI on the other.
WTF? House intelligence chairman says has not read documents underlying memo (Reuters)
The head of the U.S. House of Representatives’ Intelligence Committee said on Friday he had not read the underlying materials referenced in a memo he and other Republicans on the panel assembled alleging bias against President Donald Trump in the FBI and Justice Department’s Russia probes.
Who’s who in the GOP memo and how they’re connected (Washington Post)
(Click here for larger picture and the stocy)
The Surprise in the Nunes Memo (The Atlantic)
A hotly anticipated memo from Representative Devin Nunes and Republican staff on the House Intelligence Committee offers a few new interesting pieces of information about the investigation into Russian interference in the election—though it leaves the most important questions unanswered. And in one crucial way, it seems to undermine the political case it was released to bolster.
We’ve Got the Memo. Now What About Trump’s Tax Returns? (NY Times)
Seriously? That’s all they’ve got?
The four-page memo that promised to reveal the biggest political scandal in a generation has finally been released. For all the pregame hype, the memo looks less like the next Watergate and more like the next “unmasking”-gate, the 2017 pseudo-scandal that alleged — wrongly — that Obama administration officials had mishandled classified information. That dust-up was orchestrated, coincidentally, by Representative Devin Nunes, the California Republican who heads the House Intelligence Committee and whose staff prepared the document released on Friday.
7 Takeaways From the Release of the Secret Memo (NY Times)
Here are seven takeaways:
This Must Look Great — From Moscow
