What appears that most of the people commenting here have ignored within the memo is that the FBI used unverified information, which later was seriously discredited (the document's author was canned by the FBI as an informant for cause), to get a FISA warrant. The FBI itself determined it to be just a trashy piece of oppo research paid by a political campaign and a political party, and whose author was fiercely out to stop Trump from being president. Intelligence agencies are required to meet high standards in order to legally surveil on a U.S. person.
Did any of you actually read the document before commenting? While it perhaps didn't clearly and unequivocally indicate the FISA warrants were wrongly obtained, it does indicate at a minimum there was some improperness in obtaining the warrants. What we still don't know is whether the FBI had enough evidence to meet the standards of getting a FISA warrant without the Steele Dossier.
If the answer is "no", then it should send chills down the spine of anyone who believes in our civil liberties. Using duplicitous political campaign research as the basis of obtaining a FISA warrant was (at the very least) misleading to the Federal court issuing the warrant - particularly when the people in charge knew the information wasn't vetted. At best this is a situation where elements of a political campaign were successful in getting intelligence agencies to do their dirty work. That's crossing lines which risk our freedoms.
1
We need don’t need “regular” guys running our country. We need really, really smart people running the country. Experienced, morally sound and with sharp intellects. Not people who investigate personal text messages, reading “secret society” and not realize it is a joke. And more offensive: broadcast this to the country as proof of a conspiracy.
8
.....so, the hard right is no longer the power behind the power of the global intelligence "Cabal"; it is Trump/GOP vs "Cabal" ?
Many have suspected this showdown was coming--can offers now be refused ?
Mr. Nunes is right about the lemmings in the Republican party. But he fails to see that he is one of the lemmings. No good will come from the release of his memo, but much harm will be done.
3
I'm not sure "Honorable" should precede his name.
3
Nunes becomes the hero of the far right? Satan became the hero of the fallen angels. So there you go.
6
The House Intelligence Committee here in after shall be known as the right
Wingnut committee,and its head in chief ,the Head Wingnut mr Nunes.
All members who see the easily read sycophant and kiss up to Trump will of course be not invited to join.
I’m reminded of a thought and I paraphrase,”Men go insane in herds,but only recover one at the time.”have you seen the sane one in the Republican tribe
Yet.I can’t find him.
3
And Devin Nunes is the head lemming! He may be vindicated to the far right who will believe anything that fits in with a mucked up philosophy until....the cliff looms.
4
Why was it classified? The republicans had every intention of releasing it. May they think "classifying " it gives it more credibility. It does not. It is a partisan republican document meant to try to discredit any investigation of President 5 Deferments and written by Nunes who is certainly the aforementioned president lickspittle in chief. (now there is a word you don't hear as often as you'd like)
7
Nunes isn't the only Trump stooge, let's not forget McConnell and Ryan. These two have elevated brown nosing to high art.
10
Democrats had no problems with government leaks when the leaks favored Democrats.
And Democrats had no problem with classified documents being illegally sent and received on Hillary Clinton's private email server, or being held on the felon Anthony Weiner's laptop.
How times have changed.
2
So, 32% (maybe?) of Americans are satisfied with Mr. Trump. That leaves 68% who think otherwise. Releasing this stupid, ignorant "memo" is not going to sway these American people into somehow loving Mr. Trump. He's already done so much damage, lied what..2,000 times and destroyed to many fundamental agencies. What's to respect or trust about Mr. Trump? Nothing. Let's see the WH and Republicans come up with reasons to disprove what has already been proven with REAL facts. Putin is slowly taking over.
3
Now that Mr. Nunes has risen to national promence it's only fitting that his mid-term Democratic challenger Andrew Janz receive equal coverage in this fine publication soon! In the meantime, you can read up on Mr. Janz and his rise to Assistant District Attorney in Fresno, and his educational background, including a Master's in public administration here: https://www.andrewjanzforcongress.com/
6
He's a good man.
1
Self-serving sycophant. Doesn't speak very well for his CA district.
2
he still a scourge....deviant and grey individual which ethics are dubious at best.....
1
This isn't a confidential memo, its a crazy rant comment posted on a right wing website. I don't even see why it was held back because a lot of it was already stated by republicans on TV show, news sites, and their own social media releases. On that, the Dems don't need any sort of permission to reply to what this amounts to, a comment section blab.
My question is why would the entire republican party lay down for Devin Nunes about Carter Paige? Why? Lets never forget that the republicans never had to align with Trump. None of them wanted him so its beyond foul that they all have laid down the respect of their entire party AND our nation to Donald The Apprentice Trump. A bigoted, racist, sexual predator.. just why?
2
When you say “hard right” we can now take that to read Russia.
3
Time to for the Dems to finally get it through their heads that the most urgent service they can offer right is not only to beat the GOP at the polls but to destroy them once and for all, before they destroy the nation; which is exactly what Obama should have spent his last term doing instead of being so 'Presidential'. The Republic Party is indeed the most dangerous organization on earth and their WMD is DJT. The Dems must put plan in play for the firing of Mueller because it is going to happen; in fact, he's perfect bait for the sting of the century if they can bring it off. Looking shocked and appalled while being outmaneuvered by low rodent cunning isn’t going to cut it. Bring out the razors.
2
Ryan and Nunes are risking our National Security by their wreckless ideas. Where are the Republicans that will do the right thing and protect Americans?
Fake christian Mike Pence, Bumbler Grassley, Lindsay grandstanding Graham, Flaky Jeff Fake or Phony Mitch McConnell? They are all bought and paid for by Trump and the Russians.
3
Pravda now has a U.S. subsidiary. Putin just be ecstatic.
3
Nunes has also become (and was also) a stooge of Donald Trump. And stooge pretty much fits the bill: his porch lights are flickering. Read the memo—it consists of nothing but unsupported innuendo, following in the footsteps of his master.
3
I find it both an oddity--and direct evidence of the breathtaking bias of the NY Times. When viewing the headline of this piece, it occurs to me--can there be a "Hard Right"....without the absence of a "Hard Left"? I don't think I've even seen even the most extreme leftists described as anything other than than the following: liberal, progressive or democrat. Perhaps when your viewpoint is from the "Hard Left", everything to the right of you looks extreme.
2
A naked and desperate attempt to cover trump 's flank and it's sure to backfire. He's a total stooge and needs to be removed asap
2
Supporters of Trump are so brainwashed and toxic that they would hitch their wagon to anyone to get back at the left. Their credibility is shot and I couldn't care less who their flavor of the month is. How this country heals itself after this administration is truly beyond me.
Vote November 2018.
1
Being the "hero" of the stupid group is not exactly an accomplishment.
5
The FBI and the ATF have consistently been out of control since 1990 during the time Jeff Sessions was heading the FBI. We know what happened at Ruby Ridge and the resulting fall out from both the Bushes when they were in office. I don't understand why we think this is so bad. Where has the press been in all of this with the politicians of course. I haven't seen a truly good investigative piece from any outlet in 20 yrs. I don't think they even remember how to do truly balanced news anymore. From own personal experience with the press they believe all of us are stupid sheep that can't discern the difference between fact and opinion. They give us theirs because we as the public are too "STUPID and MINDLESS" as one reporter put it too me last year to be able to make up our own minds. So they think they need to tell us what to think. Clinton's administration wasn't any better with the WACO fiasco. So personally I think they should all be disbanded and redone from scratch. I don't believe I could honestly sit on any Jury whether state, local or Federal in which I will ever believe the evidence given by law enforcement again.
1
He and Joe McCarthy would have got along so well.
2
Scraping the bottom of the barrel for Republican heros!
2
Devious Nunes is an embarrassment to Californians. He has a track record of bigotry and ignoring facts (he's one of the climate-change-ain't-happening ostriches), of supporting big business instead of well-being of the average citizen or our environment , and... oh, sorry, I forgot he was a Republican.
2
He is not a hero. He is a traitor to the United States and to our democracy.
4
Vapid, vile and completely unrestrained by any moral compass whatsoever. He's the poster boy for today's Republicans.
4
I lol'ed.
Not even in Congress can anyone be as stupid as Devin Nunes has acted. First, he has secretive meetings at the White House claiming to have important information for Trump and his advisors, while the real purpose was for the White House to tell him what to say. Now, for Act II, he creates a classified memo based on documents he hasn't seen and once again spouts Trump's unfounded allegations about being the victim of a witch hunt. So why is he willing to do this?
Protect his political party? Sure, but there must be another reason. He is certainly smart enough to know that as a Republican he has no chance of becoming a Senator or Governor in California. He must have received some assurances from Trump about a high position in the administration that might be a springboard for his national political aspirations. Nunes should talk to Giuliani, Christie and others how it works out when you sacrifice credibility and dignity for Trump hoping to be rewarded later. When you kiss Trump's butt, all you get is a very bad taste.
4
Way to go, Nunes. History will eat you alive.
5
Nunes is a traitor to his country. Benedict Arnold at least accomplished something for America before he sold out to England. Nunes is the worst of a very bad lot in Congress.
1
Nunes sure makes a lot of claims despite not sharing any evidence....Trump did the same re President Obamas birth certificate.....
Tell a large enough lie and some dummies will believe it...
4
Nunes is a complete and utter Trump toady.
5
....isn't this how McCarthy got started ?
This just proves it doesn't take much to become a Hard Right Hero. Pitiful.
3
What kind of a world do we live in where the accused can accuse those charged with finding the truth with being biased without knowledge of the findings? As for law enforcement, all investigations are biased. Law enforcement does not seek to disprove evidence of guilt or ignore evidence of guilt just because the accused says he is not guilty. Law enforcement's job is to build a case and if they can't, the defendant will be found not guilty. Also, what kind of world do we live in where an opinion, that in itself is biased, can be published for all to see with the sole purpose of influencing the reader and discrediting those that are investgating the case, particularly when there is indication one way or the other that the investigation has confirmed evidence of wrong doing. These things can only happen in Banana Republics.
1
The "hard right" obviously wants member of the U.S. Congress to do the work for Putin. As John McCain noted in his recent statement: "The latest attacks on the FBI and Department of Justice serve no American interests – no party’s, no president’s, only Putin’s...If we continue to undermine our own rule of law, we are doing Putin’s job for him.”
McCain is a patriot. Nunes and Ryan are not, and those thinking they are obviously have no understanding of what patriotism requires.
5
Devin Nunes lays an egg. AGAIN.
The memo is a nothingburger. It ADMITS that months before the 90 day reauthorization of this EXISTING FISA warrant to surveil Carter Page (who has been under suspicion of working with the Russians since 2013) the FBI had the Papadopoulos ADMISSION (by way of the Australians) that the Russians had hacked the DNC to harm Hillary Clinton's campaign, and the Russian connection investigation was under way.
The memo also IGNORES other credible evidence that was presented to the FISA court.
5
It's especially unsettling that Trump seems to be gearing up to get rid of FBI leadership during this window in which the WH has carte blanche authority to direct intelligence activities without congressional knowledge. (That, courtesy of the last-minute provision added to the spending plan.)
A man like Nunes being someones "hero" says more about the hero-worshipers than it does about him.
1
Talk about hitching your wagon to the wrong post! Buh-bye, Devin Nunes.
1
Hero?
Traitor!
Disregard rule of law!
Disregard democratic procedure!
Disregard potential damage to our national security!
Disregard the safety of people working in intelligence gathering!
While fabricating and unlawfully publicizing classified information to mislead American public thus protecting a crook president for colluding with Russia.
Nunes fits the definition of Traitor perfectly!
8
Devin Nunes is just another name among those spineless Republicans in Congress, who are nothing but just a bunch of opportunists. Obviously ethics is as foreign as Islam.
The Chinese much better. In November 2013 China's new leadership under Xi Jinping advised their colleagues to read Alexis de Tocqueville's classic book on the French Revolution - "The Old Regime and the Revolution," which explained why the Revolution erupted in 1789.
The Republicans could read de Tocqueville's "Democracy in America" and learn about how the Founding Fathers wanted their country to be.
3
Its hero? And here's most of the country thinking he needs to be charged with treason. Therein lies our crisis. The GOP lionizes criminals and in doing so normalizes depravity.
Investigate Nunes. Now. There is supposed to be a firewall between the three branches of government. These clowns don't even know what those branches are.
2
And to everybody else he is a traitor.
5
Nunes is a traitor and a surrogate of Paul Ryan and patsy for Donald Trump. Welcome to the New Russian Republican Party!
3
As this reaches denouement - becoming clear how rigged this whole thing was from the outset
And that it was orchestrated at the highest levels
Everything from expulsion of Soviet diplomats to orchestrating of - and then abstention from - the UN vote condemning Israel
Everything designed to set and bait a trap for Trump's incoming administration - to "collude" with Russia
Nothing had anything to do with collusion
Everything had everything to do with the list of Inside-the-Beltway mortal political enemies Trump had made - any one of which would've taken down a normal politician
*ttps://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/09/opinion/im-proud-we-published-the-trump-russia-dossier.html
"...we knew that key members of the Senate — Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat, and John McCain, the Arizona Republican — had acted on its contents...
But Trump isn't normal - as a politician, and perhaps in other regards
At this point, perhaps Jeff Sessions'll want to join Trey Gowdy in returning to the private sector...Developed a deep respect for their grace-under-fire and legal erudition - but working near Trump must be like drinking from a fire-hose...pumping hydrazine
Sometimes - a witch hunt is the only answer
*ttp://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/big/1020.html
Yeah...Woodward...Bernstein...The Post (paper)...The Post (movie about the paper)...
This was the true unspeakable crime
*ttps://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/05/04/may-4-1970-national-guard-opens-fire-at-kent-state/
2
''Whenever I hear the word culture, I reach for my revolver.''
--- Usually attributed to Nazi Reich Marshal Hermann Goring
Whenever I hear the name Devin Nunes, I always reach for my copy of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment Test.
--- Stanton
5
Could Nunes really be a stooge in tbe grand scheme?
1
Mr. Nunes saw that becoming an enemy of government is a path to recognition. Never mind that this path involves betraying the people who elected him, and forgetting the promise he made to uphold and protect the Constitution. We have entered the age of Ryan, McConnell, Trump, and now Nunes-----the age when personal gain and enrichment is more important than anything in life, including our nation's security and safety.
6
He's had to pay for his notoriety with his integrity. Not a great payoff.
2
Nancy Pelosi is correct: “Congressman Nunes’ deliberately dishonest actions make him unfit to serve as Chairman, and he must be removed immediately from his position.” This Mr. Bean look alike has got to go!
6
Devin, the "regular guy," is in deep trouble in his own district back home in CA, just as Ryan is in deep trouble in his own district back home in WI. If he thinks he's going to have a cake walk to another 2 years in the House and retain chairmanship of this Committee, he's on drugs.
2
Let's hope so, but don't count your chickens before they hatch. We've all seen these kind of creeps pull-off miracles before, generally by using dirty tricks and sliming their opponents.
1
Sociologists will have a lot of material to work with in explaining how it is that the centrists and moderates in the Republican Party pretty much en masse decided to stand with the most extreme elements of the party.
What makes a reasonable conservative sit idly by -- or even give support -- while the Party tests the limits of political interference in a serious national security investigation?
Is this what it means to be a Good German?
1
The best possible examples of leadership the far-right is able to hold up are Donald Trump and Devin Nunes? These are their contemporary exalted heroes? Congratulations ladies and gentlemen of the GOP, you continue to define yourselves better that any left-leaning commentator or comedian could ever hope to.
3
Nunes is using his official position to cover up and deflect a law enforcement inquiry into potential criminal conduct by someone who has given Nunes favors in the past and likely will do so in the future. Textbook case - Nunes should be indicted for obstruction of justice.
4
The Greenbriar Resort was once designated as a safe haven and shelter for members of Congress in the event of a nuclear attack on Washington. Since the GOP is all gathered at the Greenbriar for their retreat, couldn't we just do the reverse? Then we can all start over with this American Experiment in democracy.
1
I'm disgusted.
But mostly I'm saddened - profoundly.
Grieving, that's where I'm at -- grieving for the loss of my country, a country I grew up believing in; a country I grew up believing had a commitment to something big, something exceptional, something good (in spite of its many serious mistakes).
My country now joins the ranks of every other country and nation that ever existed, and then, in due course, succumbed -- mostly to its own internal power-struggles.
It's been a long time coming. Trump's not an anomaly, but rather the breaking of a wave of "nothing-succeeds-like-success" (and, therefore, win-at-any-cost) values that's been building and gaining force for decades.
We're all culpable -- at least, almost all of us are.
We'll never be able to go back to believing in America again -- in America as a place of high ideals (even medium-high), like that of the common decency, like that of fairness, like that of there bing a line below which we don't go.
Among the millennials I know, already there's none of that. My colleagues in that generation take it as a given that Dems and Reps are, equally, a turn-off.
Maybe therein lies a silver lining. I don't know. But this seems a good bet -- people won't volunteer to risk life and limb in defense of a country they see as run by people who pander to -- and protect only -- their own power-base.
8
I wonder what millennials will think when Trump has to institute a draft so we can fight more wars. They might get off their cell phones long enough to vote.
4
Go back to your cattle ranch, Mr. Nunes somehow I don't see a future in Washington. This 2018 I don't see my native Californians sending you back to Congress. Obviously, you need time to reflect on your constituents, their needs and take some basic ethics and law courses.
1
The standard bearer for exposing secretive government illegal activities, The Washington Post, has come out decrying the release of this memo. Are there any truly great newspapers left in America anymore ?
We are truly living in Bazzaro land....
I will be happy to contribute to Nunes opponent this Fall. He deserves to be flushed out of Congress where he has clearly violated his oath of office. I'm not sure if it is treason, but his intent is clearly to help Trump and Putin rather than seeking the truth.
Trump keeps talking that it is a disgrace about "what is going on", the real disgrace is that he is our fake President. Without his good friend Putin's assist he would never have made it. At this point; Ryan, McConnell and Nunes are all complicit in their efforts to destroy our democracy.
3
God help this country. Once again the GOP has failed to protect us from the dangers of an egoistic president and people who have sold their souls to him. It is a sad day for our democracy.
3
Let's never forget who supported the release of this memo. Let's never forget the extremest interpretation of facts this memo represents. Let's never forget who the enablers in congress were at this sad moment. Let's never forget it is a memo not the actual report.
4
Ok, so the investigation into possible Trump collusion with the Russians depends, at least in part, with Hillary's campaign colluding indirectly with the Russian contacts of a retired British spy. C'mon Democrats, let's get to work and focus on the real issues with which real people are concerned. Leave Hillary in the tranquility of her plush retirement and focus on the retirement, or lack thereof, of people currently working.
During the campaign, Trump proclaimed that he could publicly shoot someone on 5th Ave. and not lose any votes. It seems that this idea is now the mind-set of Devin Nunes, Paul Ryan, and the bulk of the elected Republicans in the house.
4
It's not just the hard right. It's virtually the whole Republican Party behind this. The Republican politicians in Congress and the White House are conspiring to obstruct justice to try to hamper or even end the investigation of Trump and his cohorts. As the investigation gets closer to them, Republicans become more desperate to end it or discredit it.
2
He will have a sad day when he realizes he, like many others, was used by Trump. No one seems to accept that Donald's loyalty is only to Donald. Now that Nunes has completed his errand, he too is easily disposable.
Maybe Donald will campaign for him in the fall. Maybe.
2
Let's assume that Nunes is right and the first FISA judge shouldn't have credited the memo and should have denied the application.
What about the judges involved in the subsequent re-applications?
They saw the intelligence yield from the first application before approving the continuation.
This memo makes a big deal about bias in the initial application and ignores the issue of possible criminal or treasonous behavior on the part of Page.
And, that's giving Nunes the benefit of the doubt. More likely, the Court was fully capable of considering the veracity of the evidence contained in the application and that their decision might well have been the same in the hypothetical absence of the dossier.
I believe that the only reasonable conclusion is that members of the Trump team are guilty and that his die hard supporters are trying to discredit the prosecutors of the crimes.
What is most concerning is how many Republicans don't care about the subversion of democracy if it furthers short term political gain..
4
I read the memo. It shows that law enforcement did not reveal that Democrats paid for opposition research that led to national security concerns, that Steele likes to brag, and that persons in Washington have political connections. Fine. But, did anyone in the Trump administration assist Russia in attempting to undermine democracy, and did Trump or other persons obstruct justice? I'm still waiting for an answer.
1
That is giant
That during an election cycle "ears" would be put on people who easily could have been in the room with Trump is enormous.
1
When your leader is someone who doesn't engage in appropriate research prior to disclosing government information, it speaks volumes about the dire situation of the Republican Party and the US right, in particular. They're both normalizing irresponsibility and bullying beyond the immediate sphere of Mr. Trump.
1
Nunes has given the wonderful and industrious people in Calfornia, who are of Portugese descent, a huge black eye. He is an embarassment to them. HIs re-election chances in his home Congessional District have been close to zero for many months. They are now absolute zero. Jokingly, bird watchers out here refer to Buzzards as Portugese Eagles, and to mudhens as Portugese Mallards. Devin Nune's is now forever going to be remembered as the Portugese "Fredo".
3
As a Jill Stein voter, I can hardly be described as “far right”. I think Mr. Nunes is a heronfor releasing this. Now, Inwant President Trump to declassify and release ALL of the background documents that went into supporting this. American intelligence spied on our European allies and ordinary citizens. The FBI is currently harassing Microsoft to obtain mass communications between ordinary European citizens. Our spies have gone too far and it’s time to reign them in. Expose their misdeeds and engage a national movement that will demand pervasive and in depth monitoring of the people, and their thousands of privat contractors, by the *entire* Congress. We need also near to gain the release of the names, documents, and a reasoning for FISA courts that approved this incredibly dangerous interference in our election and even subsequent spying on a President elect, spying that comtinued even after Mr. Trump took office. You don’t have to be a Trump supporter to realize that what has happened is intolerable and steps need to be taken to punish those involved.
I witnessed Watergate and was relieved when Congress did their job by protecting the Constitution of the United States. Nunes’ charade is perhaps the saddest event in my lifetime. With it the Republican Congress has abandoned the rule of law in return for preservation of power and their grip on our government. Let us never forget this day and the hypocrites in Congress.
2
Given Devin Nunes' behavior throughout this process--- and including this dubious memorandum--- it seriously makes you wonder if he has NOT (already) been compromised by the Russians and are working at their behest to provide the President with advance notification of areas of inquiry by either the Congressional committees and, perhaps, by extension the Special Prosecutor, Mr. Robert Mueller and his team.
2
Haven't the behaviors of Nunes and other Republicans fulfilled the definition of treason?
Wikipedia's definition: "In law, treason is the crime that covers some of the more extreme acts against one's nation or sovereign."
1
If Daniel Ellsberg, pvt Manning are hero's among the left, then how can the the left complain of damage to crucial institutions by the Nunez memo?...
1
Why are the Democrats referring to the memo as the "Republican Memo"? The "Memo" appears to be authored by the FBI and Justice Committee. The issue became an eye-opener with concerns after the "Memo" provided to the members of the House Intelligence Committee and Republican members of the committee cried, fowl and illegal maneuvering by the intelligence agents and the FBI' due to their support of the Hilary Clinton debacle. It appeared the FBI turned a blind eye and brushed off Hilary Clinton's missing classified emails, Benghazi attack, . . . So, now the public gets transparency to read what is now referred to as the Republican Memo which had previously be known as the F.B.I. and the Justice Departments's MEMO. So, why all the angst - anyone who has the moral right to call 'foul' is the Republicans!
1
Question:
Is the 'Hard Right' the same as the 'Alt Right'?
Or is it more like the 'Far Right'?
3
At some point people like Nunes look in the mirror and they can't like what they see. When your whole job is to protect a corrupt President there is a price to pay at the end. If your morals and integrity are meaningless then justice that comes your way is deserved. 40 members of Nixon's administration ended up going to jail because of a corrupt President. Remember to vote Nunes out of office come this November.
It seems you think Nunes has some integrity to return to when he sees a clear picture in the mirror. You are truly an optimist! This secret agent/congressman is without common sense and certainly unaware of any standards of law or decency.
1
Nunes is going down. He won't be a hero for long.
3
His 15 seconds of fame.
2
and his 15 minutes of shame
1
Time to for the Dems to finally get it through their heads that the most urgent service they can offer right now is not only to beat the GOP at the polls but to destroy them once and for all, before they destroy the nation; which is exactly what Obama should have spent his last term doing instead of being so 'Presidential'. The Republican Party is indeed the most dangerous organization on earth and their WMD is DJT. The Dems must put a plan in place for the firing of Mueller because it is going to happen; in fact, he's perfect bait for the sting of the century if they can bring it off. Looking shocked and appalled while being outmaneuvered by low rodent cunning isn’t going to cut it. Bring out the razors.
1
He is indeed an American hero! The only thing that divides civilized, functioning democracies
from the rest of the world is HONEST cops. And that in America includes the FBI.
The time has come for Trump's errand boy to resign.
1
If you want to know who is guilty, just see who is making the money.
1
Along with the other hard right hero, David Duke.
1
I hope he enjoys the Judiciary as much.
1
Nunes better be careful that the FBI doesn't have a FISA warrant on him. He sure acts like the agent of a foreign government.
31
Hoisted by his own petard - he pushed hard for expanded surveillance, and with no warrant.
1
California is usually associated with liberalism. Between Issa and now Nunes, the Republicans here apparently have different ideas. The reaction from Malibu to that will probably be mistaken for a tsunami.
6
Issa has announced that he is not seeking reelection. He got the message that he would be defeated if he did run. Hopefully, Nunes will meet the same fate once his conspiracy with the White House to obstruct justice by hampering the Special Prosecutor's investigation is fully exposed.
2
Nunes is obstructing justice. He is a criminal. He should be expelled from the House, tried, and put in prison. It is THAT simple. Criminals are in charge of our government.
26
I wonder what Nunes' constituents think. He obviously works for Trump and not them. How would he have the time? The Sacramento Bee's opinion piece speaks volumes.
19
I'm one of his constituents. Most people in his district love him. Our part of CA is much more conservative than the rest. They don't care if he never does a single thing to help us. He's "helping" Trump and nothing else matters.
A man knighted for his efforts to make *Portugal* great is a hero of the xenophobic right.
You can't make this stuff up.
6
On the flip side, Nunes has made himself the enemy of moderates as well as liberals, not to mention Trump's chief toady and sycophant. He isn't my representative, but I hope my fellow California voters down in Fresno show him the door come November.
21
Yes. He played to the 1/3 of the country that has always been in Trump's gallery. But he just told the 1/3 in the middle to sit-and-spin.
He's done.
2
Devin Nunes: I have four numbers for you:
2-0-1-8
14
More accurately, "Duplicitous self-serving liar becomes a hero to those to who have made a God of moral bankruptcy."
Tell me, what does the modern Republican Party stand for other than: concentrating power into the hands of a few already powerful families, abetting the NRA in it's attempt to convince American citizens that's it's their fault if they get shot in a mass shooting, and enshrining bigotry, hatred and racism into law?
Nothing else as far as I can tell.
26
Really? A revolution sponsored by Putin and his oligarchs, now suborned by Republicans in Congress, conspiring against the rule of law in this country so as to dissolve its greatness while orchestrating the whole show under the banner MAGA.
Does anyone involved in this think about the world they are making for our children?
Shame on them.
13
Anybody involved in this is thinking only of one thing: congressional power. For some reason, they think their chances in this midterm are hurt by standing up to Trump over the rule of law. For ONCE, choosing country over party. Instead, they just guaranteed their political extinction.
1
So we're not concerned about a hostile foreign power's ongoing influence over our elections... we're concerned about imaginary bias by law enforcement leaders, who are all Republicans by the way, against our manifestly unfit and dishonest President?
The official slogan of the GOP should be Party Over Country.
17
Nunes was/is a member of the Trump transition team. Paul Ryan should have signed off on his appointment as committee chair.
3
Paul Ryan is just as crooked as Nunes.
3
By pushing the release of this partisan memo, Representative Nunes has now become fully complicit in President Trump's efforts to obstruct justice. He and his aides should be interviewed ASAP by Special Counsel Robert Mueller about their highly likely coordination with the White House in constructing and releasing this memo.
16
Let's no longer sanctify these people as "right" or "hard right." The entire political spectrum from left to right had one binding Truth - and that is a loyalty to the United States.
These people should be called "Corrupt", and Devin Nunes is their darling because the will ultimately subvert Democracy. The path from Democracy to Totalitarianism (the Chinese style with one party; instead of the Russian style with a strong man), takes a lot of chipping away out our institutional foundations. The Republicans, along with Fox News (which should be tried for treason), is looking to become a one-party state for the enrichment of a select few by distracting the right by offering up racists-red-meat, or distracting the left with cultural issues (#Metoo, BLM, Abortion, Planned Parenthood). All of that are important, but they will not matter if we have no Democracy or voice.
4
Oh, how the joy of being in the limelight changes people. Mr. Nunes watched his mentor Donald Trump get all the attention and wants to be just like him - famous. The destruction or stupidity is beside the point, as long as the cameras are pointed at him. Mr. Nunes is a happy man for now. It will likely come crashing down because if the law enforcement entity wasn't biased before they probably are now.
It also runs the risk of putting him in the cross hairs of obstruction of justice. Lots more attention is coming his way and unlike Mr. Trump he's not used to fighting lawsuits and legal challenges, who seems to thrive on them. Oh, and one point he ought to be thinking about - Donald Trump will throw anyone under the bus to save himself, no matter how loyal.
Runaway ambition often trips one up and Mr. Nunes is just not smart enough to fight the head winds coming his way.
9
Seriously - which is the more likely scenario? That there is a vast conspiracy among our entire justice and intelligence community in which they are wholly corrupt and seek to overthrow the government or simply that the Russians got to a couple low-rent politicians and reality tv stars?
15
Nunes is seen as a hero by those that value the truth !
You mean like the 2000 or so lies the president has told so far?
Or like Trump before country?
3
No, Nunes is seen as a hero by those who don't value the rule of law and the separation of powers and for whom facts don't matter. Can you imagine if during the Obama administration, a similar investigation took place and a Democrat accused the FBI of bias? The Republicans would accuse that Democrat of being treasonous.
We now have Republicans who won't do anything about Russia's interference in our elections and who are going after our law enforcement agencies whose leaders all happen to be Republicans with many appointed by Trump.
It should be clear to anyone that this is only about one thing: obstructing Mueller's investigation into Russia interference and Donald Trump's related activities. If Trump is innocent, why all the fuss? Republicans have placed Party over the country and it's a strategically stupid move, because if they act before November to get Trump out of office, Pence will become POTUS if he's not also caught up in the investigation and Ryan if he is. But if they wait until after November and Democrats take the House and Senate and they push Trump/Pence out, Nancy Pelosi becomes President. It is in Republicans' interest to act now and get this incompetent, treasonous fool out of office.
1
Ladies and gentlemen! Please be informed that Tom has chosen to comment from the other side of The Looking Glass.
Clearly, Republicans have no interest in "country first". They will destroy anything to advance their ideology. Massive debt? Who cares as long as the rich get richer! Snatching healthcare away from millions? Who cares as long as the rich get richer! Purge all government offices of professionals with actual knowledge? Who cares as long as the rich get richer!
10
This is now the payoff that Putin wanted. We are politicizing the rule of law. Facts don't matter.
13
Please, folks, prove Putin wrong. Wipe that self-satisfied grin from his face as he contemplates his success at fouling up his greatest rival making him the ruler of the universe. He has definitely showed us our weaknesses and played up our dark side of animal instincts and emotions. If we don't rely on our strengths of independence and rational thought, it will be our own undoing.
Without a doubt Putin is very happy today. America is quickly losing it's way.
There may still be time , but not much.
1
The "evidence" cited in the Nunes memo is laughably thin, nothing more than a web of conjecture worthy of Alex Jones's most fevered halucinations. But neither Trump, the hard right nor Trump's mainstream GOP backers are interested in facts. They seek only a pretext for Trump to seize control of and shut down Robert Mueller III's investigation. Sadly, the key question may not be whether the memo is supportable. It almost certainly will crumble under even mild scrutiny and if justice served, Nunes and possibly those who support him in Congress would be indicted on obstruction of justice charges. Whether any Republicans in Congress will let this baldfaced effort to undermine the Mueller investigation could determine not only the fate of the Trump presidency but the legitimacy of the U.S. government going forward. So far, the picture is not encouraging. The only Republican to step forward so far is Sen. John Thune. House Speaker Ryan and Senate Majority Leader O'Connell, meanwhile, play a duplicitous game in which they try to put enough distance between themselves and the memo's stink, but by letting it stand do less than nothing to prevent Trump from playing the tinpot dictator. God help us. The GOP certainly does not seem interested in preserving the democracy the founders so brilliantly crafted.
9
It is almost as if trump promised Nunes a car dealership or casino of his very own of this partisan hackery. My biggest question now - and it should trouble all of us - is if our United States of America will ever recover from the dirty dealings of trump.
9
WOW...that was an incredible read. The Obama administration has now cemented it's legacy as the most corrupt administration in the HISTORY of this nation. Obama was all smoke and mirrors and now we have the smoking gun.
1
Right. Except that this investigation is being conducted by the FBI and other agencies whose leadership are Republicans and mostly Trump appointees. There are no holdovers from the Obama administration. So how do you explain that?
If the Obama administration is guilty of anything, it was not doing more to stop Russian interference in the election. But had they done so, they would have been accused of working against Trump.
4
Good thing the "Hard Right" is a small minority of the voters in this nation and will always be around. This Nunes guy is obviously very one sided, why don't they mention that? Guess is hard to find anyone who does not have an opinion one way or the other. If they do find that person, changes are he hasn't turned on a TV or radio in years ...
1
Even tho Nunes comes from a blue collar, uneducated county near Fresno, he is really stupid if he thinks he will last as a "Hard Righter" in California.
Our state is doing quite well, and for the most part, we are united. 75% of the state voted Democratic and have a Democratic State Congress. We have a surplus budget and rainy day fund. We have 5 of the best colleges in the nation.....50,000+ DACA Dreamers.
Calf. Dems are smart and will not stop bringing Nunes down, making sure this is his last election.
9
https://www.biggestuscities.com/demographics/ca/22nd-congressional-district
Check out the demographics in his mostly Latino district. It is entirely possible that his district will be flipped. Check out the coverage in the Fresno Bee. They are not looking at Nunes as some kind of hero.
As the Mueller team pulls together their money laundering and racketeering charges against Trump and his family of grifters, trump continues to set up these sideshows. We really aren’t stupid, the FBI was already alerted by the European intelligence people that the Trump campaign folks were having too many conversations with the Russians.
The question everybody should ask is why is trump so frantic to shut this investigation down?
8
Because Putin is putting pressure on him to deliver on his debts to the oligarchs for helping him get elected.
There is no way DJT would have won the election without the concerted efforts of Putin and the oligarchs. He owes them everything.
Yes, we can also blame the FBI people who thought they were doing the right thing by following a path they considered unbiased and even-handed. They were pressured to investigate Hillary and she came out clean.....but the announcement was not good timing for her and it was unannounced that they were also investigating Trump Comey had his rules and we are paying a price for his scruples. He owes us and so do the others. They don't deserve blame for following the rules but they need to be more vocal and upstanding now about how their work has been mischaracterized and how it is being abused by the Trumpist partisans.
No one who puts politics above country is a hero!
9
You just gave the most succinct description of the GOP.
Party before country and Trump before Party.
Wonder if Congressmen Nunes "new friends" will be hiring him as a lobbyist when he leaves Congress later this year.
5
That's probably what tipped him into pulling this stunt. He knows the payouts are much higher on K-Street.
1
I don't wonder. I am sure there is a place waiting for him in Moscow on one of Putin's ranches. He can put his dairy farming background to work there.
Nunes new friends are Russian oligarchs and the payoff is worth it.
Hero? Hardly. Nunes is persona non grata forever. He kow tows with Pence, Ryan and the GOP bowing submissively before their emperor of money. I never thought it was possible for even the most conservative reps to display s support this embarrassing litany of insults of the American people, the Constitution of The United States, They betray us daily with the open flood gates of power grabbing and money for personal gain regardless of the destruction to the people and the world. Godless self will run wild.
6
Hilarious that Nunes is now saying his goal was to stop political interference with the Intelligence process!
Clearly no sense of irony.
And a serious case, like his master in the White House, of what pychiatrists call 'projection': trying to disavow your own pathology by projecting it onto your adversary. Very telling, in a way Trump and Nunes seem either too dumb or dishonest to understand.
6
So does Democracy Die in Darkness, or does it die when government intelligence agencies illegally spy on the political opposition, with the willing collusion of the media?
1
It dies when facts don't matter and when our elected leaders put their private interests above all else. It dies when the media is over run by conspiracy theorists, fearmongering con artists and propagandists working for our enemies.
2
No, it dies when it's leader is a mendacious, con man who thinks the country is his personal golf course to play with. He's going down but it's going to be a long ugly battle. HIs mistake was including his gangster family in the government. Be patient my friend, if it's illegal activity that your worried about there's going to be a lot to digest in the very near future.
1
It's apparent that Devin Nunes is the "fifth columnist" in Congress for the Trump regime. Hopefully the voters will remember this when he runs for reelection as he casts aspersions about institutions of the United States.
4
Could we please have an analysis from "The Upshot" of California's 22nd congressional district, addressing the demographics and degree of difficulty to flip the seat from red to blue, giving Nunes his walking papers? Fresno may be historically Republican based on past voting records, but how might that shift if Nunes' traitorous antics stir up first-time voters, especially Hispanic citizens who might have reflexively backed him because he shares their heritage?
2
A particularly appropriatel hero for the far right.
1
The Memo hold no validity. It's a partisan piece of propaganda to support Trump by Nunes, nothing else. The FBI and the DOJ that is run by Republicans has come out and said it is not factual. Enough said. Period.
3
Too bad he's not a hero to his constituants for worrying about their concerns instead of purely political concerns. That would be a real hero. Putting country above party.
2
I never thought I would see Congress, even a Congress with the majority in the President's Party, surrender its obligation to "check and balance" a wayward executive.
Republican supine obeisance to their oligarchic donor class has now fully paved the way for Latin American-style, and Putin-style, authoritarian "presidencies."
If a new conservative party does not promptly emerge to displace the Republican Party, then Putin will have truly won the 2016 American election.
4
The Nunes Memo reads like a gossip column: it contains more gossip than fact. It refers to email exchanges between 2 FBI agents who are romantically involved, as well as media sources outside the mainstream news.
Without knowing more about about how long Carter Page was under FBI watch, apparently since 2013, it is a stretch to blame the FBI and Justice Dept. for more recent events beginning in mid 2016, as the subject was previously deemed to be suspect. The gossipy memo raises more questions than it answers, and my initial impression is that the memo is not a quality research report. I leave it to the intelligence experts to examine it in more detail.
4
How long will Nunes be a hero ? Mid term is coming up, I have seen past heroes became despised characters in short time.
4
Tic-toc tic-toc. Nunes is on the clock. He'll be soon ousted from his California seat and well be rutting around his farm shortly. He's had his moment of fame. To give up one's integrity for a president so vile is unconscionable. I'm sure he offers his family lessons in civic responsibility and duty to his country. They must be so proud of their puppet.
1
How do you spell patsy? Nunes
19
Nunes should rightly be seen as a hero--by any fair-minded folks as a crusader for open government, transparency--and against abuse of power. BUT, BUT, BUT...when open government doesn't suit the liberal narrative of what happened during the election, we see liberals flipping their hats on backwards--and decrying transparency and open government on the grounds of national security.
Curiously. since when--in the history of the NY Times, has this publication ever been opposed to releasing government secrets--or is that only when it suits their leftist agenda? It seems to me, the Times has made a great deal of its reputation for shedding light on despicable government abuses. Somehow...since this scandal is likely to paint liberals as bad actors....all we hear is...."Shhhhh...national security!". It's just not credible.
During Watergate, the actions of Richard Nixon we so obviously wrong, that both parties came together to force him out. That was a different time and place--when some politicians were guided by moral principles--and not self-serving ambitions for power. It is difficult to conceive of any offense, committed by a Liberal today, in which the majority of Liberals would be repulsed enough act. And while some may point to what happened to Al Franken--he voluntarily resigned. Had he wanted to stay--no Liberal would have voted to remove him.
And that's the shame of it in Washington these days. Morality is out, political expediency is in.
5
The constant flouting of the emoluments clause is not enough prima facie evidence of "obvious" wrongdoing?
4
Carter Page has been under surveillance since 2013. the FISA application is usually 60 pages or longer. the Dossier was originally funded by the RNC. There is nothing transparent about this memo. It's obstruction for a corrupt regime. Nunes should be removed.
3
because he's already been compromised for what he did last year by releasing information to the president while Trump was under investigation. which he was forced to refuse himself or did you conveniently forget that?
6
Devin Nunes- bagman
17
Devin Nunes was voted by an overwhelming majority of his congressional colleagues as "man we most want to give a wedgie."
11
2021 HEADLINE:
Republican Operatives, Devin Nunes, Paul Ryan, Kevin McCarthy found guilty of colluding with Russians to undermine the 2016 Presidential Elections. All three Republicans are charged with TREASON against the United States of America.
24
Czar Putin is enjoying himself. Destabilizing America has been his dream. Remember that little law passed by GW Bush called the Patriot Act, there is a line about treason. This is not Russia. The last laugh will be heard by these traitors as they descend into madness.
9
Nunes is a sad little wannabe but unfortunately after over 20 repubs who have a shadow of decency do not return to congress he's angling for a top seat among those who remain. 'Alpha lap dog' ... enjoy that title Nunes, it will be yours forever.
7
Devin Nunes has, in Mark Twain's word, "Transmogrified" into a Kremlin Lemming, intent on squashing the Mueller investigation into Russian meddling in our politics.
If he and Trump succeed in gulling the public into believing Kremlin interference is "fake news", it will amount to a suicide vest, for our constitutionally regulated democracy.
11
NYTimes is focusing on Nunes' memo and ignoring the alarming aspects of Glenn Simpson's testimony to two congressional committees, SJC and HPSIC, that CONTRADICT Nunes' version.
Nunes and NYT have stopped mentioning that Simpson was originally hired in October 2015 by the Washington Free Beacon, a conservative leaning group, and within the first weekend of his research IN 2015, found evidence of Trump ties to Russia and Italian mafia IN THE NYTimes. Nunes and NYT seem to ignore the fact that Simpson hired Christopher Steele in May or June 2016 to gather more info about Trump's repeated trips to Russia, and only mention that by this time, Simpson's client had changed to Perkins Coie, a Democrat-affiliated group.
Nunes seems ignorant of other aspects of Simpson's testimony:
1) Steele MADE INITIAL contact with FBI, (with Simpson's knowledge) in early July 2016, (about same time Comey announced closure of HClinton email investigation and month after Don Jr. Trump Tower mtg) out of sense of professional duty, EVEN though he is U.K. citizen. 2) NYTimes reported on Oct 31 that FBI had found no direct ties between Trump and Russian government, while Comey announced reopening of email invest. on Oct 28. These two events alarmed both Steele and Simpson. "We were very concerned that the information we had about Russians trying to interfere in the election was going to be covered up. And this was some really bad stuff."
FBI was distracted, incompetent, or corrupt. You choose.
4
Fascism 101
1. Delegitimize, tame and control judges.
2. Hobble the independent investigative are of the judicial system.
Check, check
21
Yes, Nunes is now the hero of the hard right, and Vladimir Putin too.
12
NONSENSE NUNES: a Trump wannabe from California.
8
Are we to assume that the repo- um, writers at the NY Times and WaPo & at CNN feel comfortable being referred to as the Hard Left?
4
It looks like Numbn..s is bucking to run for higher office once Trump ends his second term.
4
I look forward to a day when The New York Times is willing to use the phrase "hard left" in its headlines. There are many Democrats in Congress as far from the political center as Devin Nunes.
1
By any objective standard, actually, even the most liberal elements of the Democratic party would be considered center-right--certainly in any Western democracy other than the U.S.
2
There is only one thing to do now....INVESTIGATE THE STEELE DOSSIER !Every allegation must be tracked down and verified....
3
Thank you Devin Nunes! Wow, what a burst of sunshine!
My goodness, what if "crooked" Hillary had won.
2
Hero? He is a traitor.
17
Hard right? More like Cult 45.
10
The Fresno Bee called Nunes "Trump's Stooge". Appropriate, but now we can call him Putin's Stooge as well. Perhaps he is just a stooge for anyone who wants to destroy America.
14
This is how dictatorships are established.
Say nice things about the rank and file of the secret police, but attack the leaders of the secret police, get rid of them, and put your own people in their place.
8
Here is the rule of law in the Trump-enstein era - there are no rules.
3
Nunus needs to be investigted and prosecuted as part of the Mueller probe. He can then continue to pander to the racist farmers of California from a Federal Prison.
9
This is another guy destined for a federal prison. He may end up as a cell mate of Trump.
7
Or the golf pro at Trump International Resort and Casino at Guantánamo Bay. That can be their Elba.
A few misguided people might consider him a hero; the Right may consider him their stooge--because all they really care about are their ultra-wealthy donors who want to inflame the Trump base with more of the Deplorables' favorite activity--conspiracy theories--but to most of us Nunes is what he truly is--a traitor to his nation. We are after the truth here Mr. Nunes, not your engineered "alternative facts,"--a phrase Kellyanne Conway so appropriately gave us. May history judge Nunes as the Benedict Arnold he is.
5
Ironically, Trump & Nunes blame the FBI, alleging bias favoring Democrats. However, Comey, McCabe, Wray, and the rest are registered Republicans. The Donald, used to be a registered Democrat, as well. This is a bunch of poppycock to put POTUS' ego above the U.S. Constitution, the Citizens of America, and our defenders of freedom embodied in the Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigations. Trump, like McCarthy & Nixon has created a "reign of terror" and may Robert Mueller, another Republican "lock him up."
11
I'm so glad I live in California and can cast a vote again Nunes. If Ryan is too corrupt to remove him, the people will do it.
9
Here, here, Lisa. I am right behind you even if I have leave safe Sonoma County and knock on doors in his district. Boy, and we thought Issa was bad. This guy may just belong in an orange jumpsuit...in a Federal prison.
Who says we don't have bipartisanship in the Congress?
Bipartisan exists in abundance in vigorously undermining each other in order to accomplish as little as possible and submit the bill for their mutual bonhomie to the taxpayer.
Why didn't this partisan hack show his memo to the Senate Republican Committee Chairman, Richard Burr? Because he didn't have a shred of evidence to back up his claims.
Nunes is the weasel James Comey referred to in his tweet while Trump is the obvious liar. Turning a weasel into a hero won't do it. I'm betting on truth, justice and the American way. I'm betting on Robert Mueller.
13
Nunes is doing the job his constituents sent him to Congress to do.
His committee voted to do the right thing by recommending release of the memo.
What it contains is evidence of politicization of a key element of the Justice Department. What a shame.
1
The Hard Right is that faction which believe that the country belongs to them alone. The rest of us - the majority - have no rights, no experience, no stake. All we do is pay taxes. The Hard Right hates democracy and the dignity of the individual.
15
At a time when moderation and cooperation are the needed elements to salvage any hope of a productive (expensive) sitting of this Congress, actions like this attempt to subvert are not what we, the people, want to happen.
Either release all they know (not this partisan piece) or wait until Mr. Mueller is done and then release it all.
I, for one, have serious misgivings about FISA and the secret actions which go on, but in this case, keeping an eye on everyone in the upper levels of goverment, including a wide circle around the president, seems wise.
Californians with conscience are going to fight with all of their might to ensure that Devin Nunes' time in the U.S. Congress comes to a crashing halt with the next election approaching.
9
As Trump's lapdog, Nune's actions can at best be seen as self serving and, of course , at worst, damaging to the reputations of the FBI and other intelligence gathering agencies trying to protect the citizens of the US. As soon as the agencies have an opportunity to respond and cooler heads prevail the attention will be focused squarely back on Nunes. His "lemmings" are akin to Hillary's "deplorables" and they will be heard.
1
In an interview, Mr. Schiff called Mr. Nunes’s push to release the memo “a cynical strategy that the president applauds,” and said he was “deeply concerned about the breach of faith between our committee and the intelligence community.”
2
Nunes just defined what a Republican Congressman is today - a self-serving enemy of the people of United States and everything good that has distinguished the US from other corrupt governments. Will the rule of law define America or not?
7
Let’s be clear. The far right also views Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Nathan Bedford Forrest as genuine heroes. They flocked to the defense of Cliven Bundy and his sons when they took up arms against the government of the United States, and at their heart they desire nothing more then the dissolution of our national government. The far right views Treason Against the United States as deserving of its support. It is no wonder then, that the far right views Nunez -- a man running interference to block an investigation into acts of treason -- as a hero.
3
Why doesn't every story about this memo begin by explicitly stating that it is a partisan memo written unilaterally by someone who did not have access to the details of which the memo is about. I cannot believe this thing is getting the attention it has. Where are the decent people in the gop? Are there none left? This memo is nothing about nothing. And yet could destroy the independence of the judiciary and make a mockery of this so called democracy. Paul Ryan is a disgrace.
4
Let's apply the "So what?" test to this latest travesty. Americans have bee wringing their hands since the inauguration and have reacted with outrage on a daily basis. So what? Trump has garnered more support from the GOP congress than ever before and his base has not diminished. He is stronger now than ever. So what if the DOJ and FBI think the release of the memo is dangerous? So what if the NYT readers are flabbergasted? And, when Mr. Mueller presents his findings, no matter how egregious they may be, so what?
1
A bunch of children running the country.
2
The intellectual inconsistency and hypocrisy of the "hard right" continues to astound. This group extols unquestioning fealty to law enforcement officers, violently opposing any attempts to discuss or address practices and unconscious bias that result in unnecessary tragedy. They respond to and demonize Black Lives Matter with Blue/All Lives Matter. But the second law enforcement zeroes in on possible crimes being perpetrated by their political heroes, this fealty - and their fake patriotism and overwrought protestations about "the rule of law" and the Constitution evaporates like water exposed to dry ice.
This is not conservatism, or any kind of principled ideology. This is ignorant blood sport borne of desperation. Innocent people need not protest so much.
Anyone cheering this development is actively cheering the devolution of our Republic. It's a disgusting and dangerous game being played by small-minded, selfish, incurious people.
1
Fair minded people on both sides were willing to let Mueller do his job and let the cards fall but Democrats from Schumer to Pelosi to Waters and dozens of liberal news agencies couldn't let the process work, screaming from the mountain tops to start impeachment proceeding before any solid proof of collusion. Suddenly more than a little smoke seems to indicate a tainted FBI and DOJ with implications that the Obama administration and Clinton campaign were complicit. So much more now at stake for the country than impeaching a standing president. Behind close door manipulation of our election process by our own agencies is more than frightening, its depressing to think what our so called political leaders are doing to the United States and what they are attempting to sell to the american people.
The Democratic Party lust for power is bordering on treason.
1
Devin Nunes, elected to the House in 2002, is another prime example of why we need term limits for members of Congress.
3
In other words, Nunes is a hero to those who would destroy this country and everything it stands for.
There is nothing honest or honorable in his actions or the actions of his co-conspirators. These so-called Republicans continue to lay the country low. I hope Mr. Mueller pillories them as they so deserve.
2
Mueller and his investigation with prevail if for one simple reason: It has the truth on its side.
4
Among so many other things, the term "hero" has now been unrecognizably degraded.
1
Desperate individuals who didn't want trump to win, did unlawful over-reach. Let's talk about the real news now. Don't try to change the subject here.
Nunes is NO HERO! This is the most ridiculous and dangerous assault that the GOP has come up with. They will reap what they have sown...
3
Let's not forget that Republicans supported Senator Joseph McCarthy for a long time, too. But on June 1, 1950, a moderate Republican, Senator Margaret Chase Smith of Maine, gave what came to be known as a Declaration of Conscience Speech. Sen. Smith asked her fellow Republicans not to ride to victory on "Four Horsemen of Calumny– the Fear, Ignorance, Bigotry, and Smear" of Sen. McCarthy. If only some brave Republican would put their country before their party today.
I write this as a former Republican.
2
The memo is cherry picked, doctored partisan hack job meant to attempt to discredit the FBI but instead dis credits Nunes and the focus of the "intelligence" committee where intelligence is in short supply on the right. Wasn't the committee's focus to determine Russian influence on our 2016 election??? What has happened to that? If this is a new focus, the committee must agree on it; which I know for a fact they haven't.
1
Let's see. A man with a Hispanic/Latino/Spanish family name whose folks have been in dairy farming in "the Valley" for three generations.
Wonder where their workers came from. Three generations ago it would have been from south of the border. The Okies had finally found other jobs or were off in the war. Two generations ago an even greater possibility of Spanish speaking farm workers.
Today? My guess is the same with working papers, green cards, etc. just isn't safe for a congressman's relatives to hire from the street corner any more. Isn't safe to try to get hired that way, either.
While Mr Nunes has not yet been given the official title, I think at this point he has clearly taken the lead in the competition to become Groom of the Stool to Donald J Trump. This high honor and traditionally position of influence is being hotly contested by others of his party but Mr Nunes has demonstrated the willingness and required skills to perform this duty.
As a caution to Mr. Nunes, previous Grooms of the Stool such as Sir Henry Norris and Sir Michael Stanhope wound up swinging from of a rope. So do be careful.
We are seeing a grand view and the runway being laid for abstraction of Justice by the President.
Here is where the readers need more from the NY Times. Mr. Nunes family runs a dairy farm. What companies support that farm? Americans who are nauseated by Nunes seditious acts should boycott these companies until they either refuse to do any business with the Nunes or serve only alt right consumers. I do not live in Nunes district, so I cannot vote him out. But I can, and will, vote with my wallet. How do we hurt this man economically for his betrayal of our country and law enforcement? What companies make Nunes rich? Americans that believe in democracy need to send a message that sedition and treason will not be tolerated. We need to make the Nunes family wallet ache for what he has done. Let those who selfishly put party over country learn it is a betrayal that comes with economic repercussions. Let's make these cowards the very thing they fear and despise the most. Let's make them - gasp - merely middle class.
He should ask Bannon how well being a far right her worked out for him. That group will turn on him in a millisecond and the president would throw his only children under the bus to protect his own hide. Nunes is even worse than Bannon -Nunes only cares about himself. Actual heroes do something for the greater common good, not act out of self interest.
I don't understand how you run for re-election with the fact that you did something that the Justice Dept and FBI said was "reckless" and misleading.
Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin and Jane Fonda were once seen as heroes too. We'll see him join the pantheon of counter-cultural radicals who forsook legitimate process to achieve their own short-term goals.
After leading the charge to extend FISA, Nunes is now undermining it for political gain. I had a lot more confidence in FISA under Obama -- now that Trump is president and applies a loyalty test to all appointees and is busy stacking the courts, I'm extremely worried that we'll see REAL abuses in future for both political and anti-immigration purposes. If Nunes had included the Democrats in the process or released their memo at the same time I would be more understanding. I'm disgusted by this blatant political move and worried about its consequences.
9
Representative Nunes is now the Joseph McCarthy of the present era.
worse, actually, as the White House appears to be aiding, abetting, leading, and fully participating.
horrendous
who will step up and shut this undemocratic behavior down?
21
Beware of Congressman desperate to make a name for himself.
He may just sell our nation down the river!
A sad day for America!
13
I would think he is the hero of all Americans who now have access to information on which they can make up their own mind.
12
That might be true if a lot of the memo had not been redacted
Nonsense! The memo is a partisan interpretation of classified documents, meant to cast doubt on an investigation into high crimes and misdemeanors by Trump and his henchmen. Let the the investigation proceed without interference from the people being investigated. After all, this isn't Russia -- at least not yet comrade.
4
I’d sign up to this if he wanted to release the full documents that are abstracted for this 4 page memo, or at least the Democrat’s rebuttal. I’m not making up my own mind if I don’t have access to this material.
1
It's time for the country to remind the "hard right" that they are the minority, no more than a third of the electorate. Democracies are about the rule of the majority.
13
It's just so "Republican." Sad.
12
Are there no good republicans of conscience that dare speak out against this ...
15
@Steve of Albany: It would seem not.
1
I'm afraid "good Republicans" has become an oxymoron.
1
The FBI is one of the most important law enforcement organization's our country has to protect from enemies at home and abroad. Anything done to discredit or undermine the fine, fine work that they do for our great nation is tantamount to committing treason. Nunez belongs in a federal prison. May he and his partners in crime feel the full force and fury of our justice system. Gitmo for them all.
13
I have a message to the half of Americans who opposed Edward Snowden's illegal yet important disclosures on how the NSA violated the U.S. Constitution by spying on Americans: "You are responsible for the current meltdown of government over this stupid Devin Nunes 'memo,' a politically motivated document which has nothing to do with national security or government policy.
When you guys approved the NSA's illegal monitoring of American's private information, you also gave a blank check to the FISA court, which by statute, is impossible to monitor for legality.
We warned you guys that one of the toxic end results of FISA-authorized U.S. Government spying (not just illegal spying, as the NSA was doing) but *all* spying by governments, proven to be true for all governments, at all times, in all places, is that once the spying apparatus is in place, it would be used in uncontrolled, unethical ways by people (independent of political orientation) to advance their own private agendas, involving government coercion, blackmail, extortion and the like.
So now with this Nunes memo, we have the first example of a third-rate power play by a Congressman with apparently has nothing better to do than embroil the entire nation in his grand fantasies about the vast, hidden conspiracies against Trump.
Might Nunes and the rest of the politically motivated conspiracy theorists be content in simply running the government in an efficient and compassionate way. Apparent not.
6
I have donated to the campaign of Andrew Janz. He will be running against Devin Nunes.
20
Wrench, screwdriver, saw, Nunez...
3
So when do we all take our loyalty pledges to the dictator? When do we raise the Russian flag? Should I carry around my passport with me at all times? When do we start teaching our children in school that anything involving a liberal democracy is bad and everything involving Trumpistan is good? Now?
15
So what you are saying is that Treason is heroic to the far right. It would be nice if you would remember that going forward any time you want to give them any credit what so ever for being honest players.
3
Meamwhile, the rest of the country sees Nunes for what he is, an obedient lap dog.
23
This is how a democarcy dies, from within.
21
Toady. Sycophant. Another characterless member of the Republican Party, which is rife with them.
15
Devin Nunes, 44, is in WAY over his head.
2
44? He looks....much older. And bloated.
1
"He looks....much older."
Yes, probably because his lies and the worst effects of stress are racking him.
1
Ridiculous Aggie from Cal Poly taking on dignified Princeton Graduate. Equal only in Bizzaro World of Trump.
1
Hero? maybe just a pawn
3
Oh give me a break. What utter nonsense. Does the NYTimes, The Washington Post and all these great ( supposedly ) media giants really want to suppress the news.
Since when did hiding information ever lead to greater knowledge. Let the sunshine.
Next the left will call for the burning of books.
2
"Since when did hiding information ever lead to greater knowledge. Let the sunshine."
So why did Nunes suppress the Democratic response?
You've got no real answer to that. But it proves this has nothing NOTHING to do with transparency, but is a ham-fisted and dangerous attempt to protect the Godfather.
1
I agree and to that end, please also call on the Republicans of the House Intelligence Committee to also release the Democrats response to the Republican-authored memo. What are they afraid of?
1
When the information is incomplete. For example, did you know that sunlight turns water purple?
(I’m sure it’s not important to know that you have to add a packet of Kool-Aid to the water first.)
Andrew Janz for Congress. Send Nunes back to the farm.
9
Well of course the far right now loves this guy.
Both sectors of the far right: The highly educated money- and power-mongers who see democracy and the Constitutional republic as threats to their fortunes and dark government; and the uneducated, low-intellect underclass Fox News dupes whose sole test of a policy or a government representative is this -- is this person or does this policy, anger liberals?
Side note to NYT: Please stop referring to Democrats -- even progressive Democrats -- and institutions like the Wash Post and The New Yorker as being of the "Left". You put your lack of understanding of contemporary world history on on display.
9
With heroes like Nunes who needs antagonists?
4
Who's going to name a high school after Comey?
3
Hopefully, this miscreant ends up in prison where it belongs and it becomes a martyr TRAITOR.
3
Lock him up. Now. Please.
8
Meet the new Roy Cohn; an updated version of the amoral, self promoting, vicious and vindictive classic.
9
The blank, dull, lifeless expression of Totalitarianism.
8
This article, and especially the hysterical and uninformed comments I’m reading here are typical of today's average New York Times cultist, and representative of the deranged “progressive” left. I suspect that after the memo is released and sigested by the public that Mr. Nunes will be seen as a hero by most of the country, not just by the “hard right” which has been mischaracterized by the writer.
What happened to that courageous media slogan, “democracy dies in darkness?” Oh..l wait... that’s the slogan of the other failing national daily, the WaPo. Never mind...
1
We "cultists" enjoy reading the truth. We also outvoted Republicans who had to rely on an enemy state--your favorite nation--Russia--for corrupt "assistance" via bots and deceptive ads via Facebook. We are not deranged--we value our country, our Constitution, our democratic way of life and we believe in science. The rest of the country will never see Mr. Nunes as anything but the traitor and sad little pawn of the corrupt wannabe Emperor Trump whom he serves.
1
Yes, Mr. Russell, and the "very fine people" aka white supremacists and Neo-Nazis who marched in Charlottesville on my alma mater's campus at UVA are also your heroes, one would imagine. SAD!
2
Bravo.
This is sheer insanity. They are trying to blame Hillary Clinton for investigations of Carter Page?
So what? Trump admitted that he fired Comey over Russia. The Trump Family Syndicate has told countless lies denying their Russian contacts. What do Hillary Clinton or Carter Page have to do with: Kusnher lying multiple times on his FBI clearance form after trying to set up a foreign back channel, Junior and Kushner violating 52 U.S.C. 30121 by "loving" to accept oppo research from the Russian government, Michael Flynn pleading guilty, George Papadopoulos pleading guilty, Manafort being indicted, Rick Gates getting indicted, Trump conspiring on Air Force One to lie about the Junior/Kushner Russian meeting, Jeff Sessions lying under oath, Mike Pence lying about Michael Flynn, Junior saying circa 2008 that they have tons of money pouring in from Russia, and the real estate deals including Trump Soho that look a lot like money laundering with Russian oligarchs? And I suppose Hillary Clinton ate Trump's tax returns.
How stupid are Trump's supporters?
17
It is time to lock all these men (and the the women complicit in their crimes) up and reclaim what is left of our democracy. This is no joke, there needs to be a commensurate push back in terms of what would be considered a democratic revolution against these fascists, liars and lawbreakers. And that would include the President and the Vice President. Jail is the only option, they are literally laughing in our faces and making a mockery of Truth. Lock them up.
4
Of course many people of decency - Democrats and Republicans - sought to discredit Trump before the election. He's a documented morally and fiscally bankrupt panderer to neo-Nazis and billionaires whose role models are violent despots in countries with horrific human rights violations. He bought cheap steel from China to undercut the US market and he employed thousands of illegal immigrants - but preached zero tolerance for others who did the same. He stole millions upon millions in tuition money to fake Trump U, and refused contractor payments to the hardest working people among us - and threatened his overpowering legal hellfire for people who refused to take his thievery lying down. But the Republican protesters have largely gone quiet about his many, ahem, shortcomings since their beloved tax law for GOP donors passed.
Peter King, though, shouldn't have energy/interest to speak about anything other than the financial pain the tax law is causing so many of his New York voters. Talk about lemmings over a cliff.
8
The way this newspaper frames its stories is deeply troubling. Nunes gets to be a hero. Really, it should say he's a hero to Trump, for whom he seems to be working, unless they're both working for Putin. And now here he is with a profile in the NYTimes. Readers would be far better served by a screaming headline about his dangerous behavior.
2
Were is the request to surveil the Trump Campain to the FISA Court? That will tell the real story.
Mr. Trump latches onto weak men. Sean, Reince, and Devin. They do his biding because they want to be close to the faux Big man on campus. Trump kicks them to the curb. Devin is a hog farmer from central CA.
9
Matt Gaetz is a Ted Cruz want to be. A loud mouth who knows everything but understands nothing. He and Devin will not last.
2
Devin Nunes may be a hero to his and the president's base but history will not be kind to him. He is perpetuating a grand scale cover-up to protect a president suspected of treason and colluding with a foreign power to ensure his election to the White House. Honesty and forthrightness are not among Nunes' qualities. He took an oath to represent his constituents and the American people as a member of Congress, not to be an apologist for corruption and malfeasance. If his own hometown newspaper demeans Nunes as unworthy, a bounty hunter hiding behind a badge, he will take his place in infamy beside the likes of Joe McCarthy and Richard Nixon.
6
Nunes is considered a nitwit in California, not a hero of the hard right. He knows he will never be reelected.
3
Nunes is a political opportunist happy to have his name onto something....May he fizz out of our sight along with the entire republican machine.
4
Wait, Read the memo. Then prognosticate.
It's only a fair fight when both outlaws each get two six shooters. Can't wait for high noon to get here.
Let me get this straight: The memo that is about to be released is based on a document that Nunes and his staff have not even read, and which the FBI and DOJ have warned would be "reckless". Has Nunes gone compke
tely mad
5
If Devin Nunes is now a hero to the GOP,what does that make them??Corrupt,stupid,greedy,treasonous and Paul Ryan leads the pack.Speaking of Pacs,just how much russian money was contributed to GOP super pacs and why??The GOP is just as complicit as our dotard of a president..obstruction of justice,collusion with russia,lying under oath,money laundering and enriching themselves at the country's expense.No wonder they are interested in the state of our prisons.We're going to need a whole lot more of them to house this group for high crimes and misdemeanors.
2
Nunes is aiding and abetting as well as obstructing justice, a subpoena to appear before the Grand Jury is in order. His trips to secret meetings at the white house also makes him a co-conspirator.
5
I thought the President said he was looking forward to talking with Mueller before he'd left for Davos. Looks like he's cranking up the propaganda machine to deflect from more empty words. NYT could you include an article speculating on when the President will set the date for the Mueller interview.
3
Nunes appears to be the Snidely Whiplash of the House. A member of the Gang that Couldn't Shoot Straight. A poor imitation of Inspector Clouseau. Let him release the memo and let's watch him fall.
2
What's happened to the venerable NewYork Times? All their reporting on the "Memo " has focused on the Republican's motives in preparing the Memo and its various omissions rather than whether the putative allegations of the Memo are true . Notwithstanding such motives of the Republican , doesn't the Times have a journalistic duty in upholding its high standards to do some exhaustive reporting, utilizing its many sources, to determine whether our Federal government abused its powers and potentially violated a citizens constitutional rights , however loathsome such individual individual my appear ?
1
I am hearing the "I" letter creeping up. Indictment and Impeachment!
2
"Hard right" is now a synonym for "pro Russian traitor"
I remember back when Republicans still knew that Russia was an enemy of the United States. It was a Republican administration that sent the Rosenberg's to the gas chamber for conspiring with Russia. Now the party is simply a subsidiary of the Kremlin.
1
Becomes a hero? of anything? this guy?
Yeah, good luck with that.
2
The remainder of his career will be forever dogged by the appellation Devin "Secret Memo" Nunes much like the colorful sobriquets of mafia dons of yore.
3
the hard right will see Nunes as a hero, the rest of the decent and informed people see him as a traitor to the United States ...
5
Please don't release the memo! The idea of being told secret things our betters in makes me sick with fear. Don't they know there are Russians everywhere? Russians!!! Please let me continue to hide under my bed so the Russians don't get me. Our National Security State is run by literal angels and they never did anything wrong. Even thinking that they might is UnAmerican and possibly Treason!
This guy thinks his job in Congress is to lick the boots of the President clean and sparkling. Never thought such a spineless and worthless carbon footprint existed until this pathetic excuse showed up. Talk about being a flunky on a grand scale, this is Nunes. How does this guy look at his family and himself and think he's someone to be proud of is beyond me. A rodent has more class this abomination.
4
There seems to be a very fine line between "hero of the hard right" and "traitor."
1
Is anyone following the money from the White House (Trump) to Nunes?
1
I'll read this partisan hack memo when the other partisan memo is released, and after doing so know that I've read nothing of substance because I can't have access to the source material in order to make a truly informed judgement on what happened.
I'm continually amazed and disheartened at the circus our government has become. Putin must be so proud.
3
Obviously this 3rd generation cattle rancher has become acclimated to living with huge quantities of their by-peoduct.
Hopefully, come November, his permanent job will be with Fox News.
1
Nunes is not going to run again. Apparently he is not willing to stake his career on a few pages of talking points drafted from a memo he has never read. Trey Gowdy read the secret memo and somehow got needed details to Nunes staff, who somehow studied something they had not seen - or should not have seen because of its secret nature - and put together this synopsis of really important facts which they would not have been able to verify. Sounds really twisted and illogical to me, maybe a large publicity stunt? And since the public cannot verify the facts, spurious. A lot of wasted newsprint and hot air - Trump and his assistants are obviously the authors of the idea and the product.
3
Since when did the "hard right" become so anti-country and constitutionally blind?
3
Washington Examiner is reporting that the MEMO HAS BEEN RELEASED.
Here are the key points:
* The Steele dossier formed an essential part of the initial and all three renewal FISA applications against Carter Page.
* Andrew McCabe confirmed that no FISA warrant would have been sought from the FISA Court without the Steele dossier information. REALLY??/
* The political origins of the Steele dossier were known to senior DOJ and FBI officials, but excluded from the FISA applications. SHOCKING.
* DOJ official Bruce Ohr met with Steele beginning in the summer of 2016 and relayed to DOJ information about Steele's bias. Steele told Ohr that he, Steele, was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected president and was passionate about him not becoming president. TALK OF POLITICAL BIAS.
1
Let's all remember that Nunes wouldn't be pulling this stunt without the full blessing and support of Ryan and McConnell. They want this and it has nothing to do with transparency and everything to do with politics.
Lots of us will remember this when we vote in the midterms this year.
3
I never want to hear one word about Hillary’s emails or private server from a Republican ever again. The GOP has surrendered trust in our intelligence network for the sake of one political figure. One. The whole country has been endangered by the GOP.
3
"Devin is sort of a regular guy" who has been seduced into being a Trump stooge.
Sulphur springs eternal with these loathsome characters on the hard right. They've weaponized politics conspiring to sabotage the investigation into Russian attack on us that benefited them at the ballot box.
How can a partisan and biased discredited politico be allowed to get sensitive and confidential investigation material to then immediately give to the team being investigated for the purpose of undermining that investigation? That's like giving top secret information to the commander in chief knowing he will immediately hand it over to the Russians in the Oval office.
Nunes and the WH have weaponized the sensitive information to create a false narrative in a way that could not be countered without revealing sensitive information. Nunes should be interviewed by Mueller as part of the obstruction of justice aspect of this mess.
The trump-nunes conspiracy team should be barred from further access to our nation's intelligence and secrets. They have PROVEN to be untrustworthy, regardless of what a one party House Ethics Committee claims. Nunes is keeping the country safe for Russian agents while undermining the institutions that actually keep our country safe.
The Republican attitude is How dare the FBI investigate likely Russian agents.
3
Hero? I doubt that. I say hurry up and release that memo that Mr. Nunes wrote so that we can make a fool of him. Once again.
1
The memo in question is selectively cited and its accuracy questioned. Republicans refuse to make public the Democrats memo along with it. There is the possibility of the release of this memo compromising the cover of intelligence operatives.
This is reminiscent of the outing of Valerie Plame for political reasons.
The GOP has no respect whatever for the rule of law or for the Constitution. The party shows an utter disregard for the country and its citizens.
If they, the current occupant of the Presidency, and the GOP have nothing to hide, why try to sabotage Mr. Mueller's investigation?
2
Carter Page was under scrutiny for his ties to Russia, well before Trump was nominated. When the FBI discovered him on the transition team, it seems to me, they got a warrant from a judge to continue surveillance. Intelligence agencies were doing their job. They would be held accountable if they didn't. Republicans are intimidated by Trump. They should be ashamed.
6
The US is no longer qualified to be a proud beacon of democracy with Trump as president or Nunes as chairman of the HPSCI.
3
What to do? Our national environment feels like another civil war. And this time the sides are the anti establishment demographic (including Devin Nunes and his drunk-with-power cronies) who are channeling their rebellious inner adolescent by thumbing their collective noses at tradition, at honesty/integrity, at our cherished institutions/values v the rest of us. But these "heroes" to the right, including this president, have "feet of clay." And because might does not make right it's a war they will eventually lose. And when they do, some semblance of Obama-like stability will hopefully return to our proud land.
2
As the delusional and dangerous American right wing acquires more heroes, they contribute to our collective education about this loathsome pathology infecting the democracy of our country. The pattern of biography has familiar strands: a striving white male, often born to wealth, conventionally educated and possessed of adequate but limited intelligence, theatrically religious, emotionally insecure, and working in a profession in which he sees peers he regards as beneath him. His most finely-tuned and well-developed skill is his predatory cleverness in the use of score settling, flexibility with the truth, and manipulation of peers, supporters, and opponents. Devin Nunes, welcome to the club.
bought & paid for
so, to the lawyers in the house -
is creating and releasing information with the objective of impuning an ongoing investigation and possible witnesses in a subsequent legal proceeding considered obstruction of justice?
would it matter if that information were true, partly true, partly false, or entirely false?
as the actors say, what's my motivation?
Opens up a huge can of worms. Anyone who has ever lost a case in court, or a pending lawsuit, can now claim "Political Bias" and have the case dismissed?
Two words suffice: Benedict Arnold. To be followed by the words of this administration: "Lock 'em up."
We haul individuals off to Guantanamo for their anti-American activities with far less evidence.
13
Nunes now owns 100% of this.
The exposure of sensitive information the compromise of our intelligence community any harm or deaths to our intelligence operatives - all it it!!
That burden now sits on his weak little shoulders.
Let’s see how he holds up!
( I think we know already)
7
All signs point to the memo being a dud; a total and complete nothing burger much like Devin Nunes himself.
4
Nunes was so partisan that he had to recuse himself from the committee as he had been reporting to Trump and taking orders from him. Recusal my foot!! This is the opposite of being out of the process. He is a lackey for Trump and has concocted this memo by choosing its contents to reflect a predetermined opinion. This may be the tipping point that (ironically for Nunes) topples Trump as Wray and Rosenstein ponder resigning or take other actions regarding this trumped up memo (pun intended) which undermines the rule of law and the integrity of the FBI and the Justice Department. Just like the Saturday Night Massacre with Archibald Cox and Nixon. If my hope becomes reality then Nunes will have done the opposite of what he intended, a fitting and Shakespearean end to Trump and himself.
3
“Devin is sort of a regular guy.”
Most terrifying comment yet.
9
The banality of evil.
3
Devin Nunes, a fatuous tool of a despotic mogul.
History will remember Nunes for his lack of native intelligence and wisdom, while having his eye on the main chance of personal gain.
Devin Nunes is not an adult.
6
No Mr King the truth is not somewhere in the middle. The truth is that, Trump through people like Mr Nunes, are at this moment throwing the F.B.I, the Justice Department, and indeed the republic, under the bus to save Trump's rear end. Plan and simple, Mr Nunes is not a hero, but a traitor to this nation.
3
The only way to right these wrongs is to turn 8 senate seats and over 26 house seats blue or purple. That is our target!!!
4
Many do not know that California is red in the middle. Hopefully, come November, Nunes and McCarthy will be sent back to the farm.
8
A ship of fools, this Republican Party, led by President Trump and his sycophants Nunes, Ryan, McConnell and the rest.
What an embarrassment and what a threat they represent to all Americans.
3
And to the World
a word in defense of Speaker McConnell:
he was rotten long before Trump appeared on the political scene.
even President Trump is truly off the hook on this guy. he is on his own as a creature of rightwing and fossil fuel interests.
People who have seen the memo say it is worse than Watergate. Will we see Obama arrested for treason this year? Very likely. The panic in the DNC right now is very suspicious. If a former President must be imprisoned, so be it.
1
And I have a purple unicorn that speaks fluent French and wrote a memo all about it.
3
Of course it is worse. Trump wrote it. Nunes would not refute that.
1
I wouldn't say Nunes and Ryan are traitors, but I definitely would not call them patriots.
2
Mark my words: a dangerous man with bigger goals on his mind. Even more dangerous than Trump or George W. Watch him carefully.........
1
I'm focusing for a second on Devin Nunes' being a third generation immigrant from the Portuguese Azores. The Azorean community in the U.S., from New England to California and many other communities, should be sorely disappointed that they have such a silly representative descendent from their islands receiving national attention.
3
If Rep. King thinks that Devin Nunes is "sort of a regular guy", his sense of what is "regular" includes lying, slandering, bullying and grandiosity.
Oh yeah, he's a House Republican.
1
I don't know about regular guy but I see the Nunes deer-in-the-headlights look as the Trump truck is coming.
3
Hard right? How about hard wrong. Extreme wrong. Alt-wrong. Anyway you name it, just wrong.
5
The memo is nothing more than a desperate attempt by the con man and Nunes to obfuscate the truth and any facts which would assist the FBI in proving his alleged treason and depravity. It will undoubtedly fail. The majority of Americans are aware of the overwhelming corruption overtaking this administration and the GOP, and will only laugh at their desperate attempt to retain their unearned power.
Should the con man attempt to rid himself of the thorns in his side by firing Mueller and those people gathering real information on his misdeeds, crimes, tax cheating, money laundering, racism, misogyny and sexual misconduct, he will find a nation ready to deal him the political and business death blow he has been waiting for and dreading, and so richly deserves.
2
Devin Nunes is a disgrace to this nation and to the rule of law.
3
Given his behavior, you have to think this guy is a Russian plant, a Russian stooge, or that the Russians have something on him to make him dance to their tune. No one behaves this way unless they are desperately trying to hide something.
3
NYT, why do you have to say things like "Hard Right"? If there were abuses, we need to know. The cover ups with evidence to back it up have been, in majority, on the left......they should be ashamed, apologizing and embarrassed that they have stooped that low! America has a right to know all the news, not pick and choosy news. You need to wake up. It would be so reassuring to see more networks give a care and put the people first instead of their networks on who can make the president seem like more of a villain. The State of the Union address broadcasted the successes of the country over the last year and the media remains silent. Sad.
1
Apparently you think that all classified information should be broadcast to the world. In that case the memo should be accompanied by the Democratic rebuttal memo which enumerates all the ways that Nunes and Co. have cherrypicked information to cast the FBI and the investigation in the worst possible light. After all, that would avoid the "pick and choose" coverage that you feel the media participates in. Then the public could judge who exactly is covering up evidence.
The abuses are made up.
"America has a right to know all the news..."
Then you should be call Nunes to ask him why the Democratic response was suppressed by his committee.
1
I believe the next previous "hero of the far right" was Steve Bannon.
Enough said.
4
Very clear to me now, after reading Nunes bio, where he learned to shovel so well. He has bachelor and masters degrees in agriculture.Must come in very handy.
3
Nunes - Ryan gangs are dangerous for democracy, law and order and America. But why? Did they receive some financial benefit or promise from Trumpist billionaires (Koch borothers, Mercers, Adelson) or unknowingly became Putin's agent ? They are selfish and greedy for power and money but not stupid Very unpatriotic.
2
It seems Mr. Nunes got to the top the old-fashioned way: kissing the rear end of other Republicans. He doesn't understand anything about history or government, just GOP false orthodoxy, just like another young Republican, Paul Ryan.
2
"Hero of the far right," eh. Dubious distinction.
1
The "Hard Right" has real problems if dolts like Nunes and Trump are their heroes.
1
i'll betcha dime to a dozens if you polled the American people and asked two questions, the overwhelming response would be; Huh!
Question 1. Who is Devin Nunes?
Question 2. What do you think about the "memo" coming our about the Russian investigation.
Now a third question?
Question 3. How's your 401K doing? They'll have that one down to the penny.
Please know that in addition to the cows, Devin has a hog farm!
1
I honestly am grasping to comprehend how anything Nunez puts forth is even given a second glance considering his recent behavior covering, lying and overall obstructing the truth to cover for prez. Why is he continuing to receive any credibility? And by whom? Do normal, upstanding citizens really not see through this blatant attempt to Putin forth obvios lies and omission of facts? I'm asking a serious question here. I'm out of answers.
2
So, the Republican Party, whose members pride themselves on supporting Law Enforcement, has stabbed the FBI and the Department of Justice in the back with this distorted and misleading memo – all to protect their president.
“I pledge allegiance to the Donald and to the Russian Federation to whom he owes his presidency, one nation, subservient to Vladimir Putin, divided, with liberty and justice for the wealthy.”
277 days until the 2018 mid-term elections. VOTE! And make sure that your friends vote!
4
The Republican party has dropped all pretense of what they’re about. They forsook their party’s legacy of fiscal conservatism, moral leadership, national security & global stability and law & order. Blind fealty to a party’s donor class has thoroughly corrupted the party of Lincoln, Roosevelt, Eisenhower and Reagan. Theirs is not fealty to Trump—he's just the conduit to the GOP's function and loyalty: rationalized greed. Here's the new, shameless Republican Party brand: NATIONAL DEBT EXPLODERS, PUTIN-DEFENDERS, SABOTEURS of LAW ENFORCEMENT and let's not overlook their embrace of a CHILD MOLESTER. Your GOP—No moral compass or math skills required!
1
America's "Right" always has feared an opposed democracy and freedom.
America's "Right" never respected the Constitution or the rule of law.
America's "Right" always is wrong.
That is why today's Republican Party consists almost entirely of traitors, white supremacists, fake Christians, and corporate plutocrats.
Once a modern Republican, never again a loyal American.
Once a modern Republican, never again a decent person.
3
California? when will he be voted out!
2
He represents Visalia and Clovis in the Central Valley of California.
Conservative GOP stronghold.
In any other time, I wonder if he could have been charged with treason? Or at least he'd have to go on the run and hide (as did Assange) and take refuge in the Russian embassy for several years.
2
The GOP-Led Congress: They are all becoming Rip van Winkles! FAST ASLEEP and NOT caring what they are doing to our Country!!! Why are so many GOP members of Congress resigning? Don't know/Can't Say/BUT I CAN GUESS!! If the GOP wishes to SLEEP - fine and dandy; VOTERS must stay awake and END this craziness. Will Russia win? Under Trump it surely appears so.
2
This is the part of the movie right before the part where the bad guy realizes he is finally, fully, cornered. His wife and kids, his business partner, the hostages he took, and the cops are there when he threatens to pull the pin on the grenade in his pocket. Then his buddy, his sycophantic shill, crashes his car into the cop car on the street, thinking it will made a different. But the shill was never really very bright. Then two more cop cars pull up as reinforcements. Negotiations ensue to no avail. Will he pull the pin? This scene is going to end one way or the other.
1
What will this "hero" status get him? Will any of those right wingers pay his legal fees?
1
Keep poking the FBI and justice department in the eye and see what happens.
1
Nunes is a proven liar. He lied about the source of information he supposedly gave to the White House, trying to legitimize a WH smear campaign. Truth matters. At least to 60% of the electorate.
2
I have spoken in person with this fellow when he first ran for Congress. I suspected immediately that he suffered from chronic, long-term inhalation downwind at his parents' dairy farm.
4
I don't think the Republicans are against the FBI and DOJ. But they are certainly against rogue FBI agents acting in political interest to further the candidacy of their candidate. Who writes and reads a note of acquittal before the target is even interviewed as crooked Comey did when he announced no charges were warranted against Clinton?
If the FBI did not disclose material information - Steele Dossier was PAID FOR by Clinton apparatchik - then it was derelict, and needs to be exposed.
2
"...they are certainly against rogue FBI agents acting in political interest to further the candidacy of their candidate."
You mean like hounding Hillary for years with the bogus email "scandal"? You mean like torpedoeing her candidacy a month before the election?
Steele dossier was paid for by Republicans trying to stop Trump. Clinton bought a copy after the fact and after it was given to the FBI.
I see Rep Nunes as an enemy of decency, and also an enemy of the state. There was a very good reason he had to be recused in the first place.
7
From toady to tea party king in only a year. Nunes is going to learn what all people truly close to Trump learn, and he'll be thrown away like a dirty dishrag. If even a handful of republicans could muster this kind of ambition to do the right instead of the wrong thing, Trump would be toast.
5
I think I can understand why Trump wants the memo made public. It helps him. What I haven't been able to figure out is "What's in it for Nunes?"
He's the Great-Grandson of Portuguese immigrants. He represents the 3rd generation of other Central Valley of California immigrants from Spain, Italy, etc. They brought in Aunts, Uncles, cousins, grandparents, etc. Talk about 'chain immigration!' Many of the current descendants are farmers who are naturally conservative. So, he has a constituency of like and like-minded folks.
But, even understanding all that, I can't imagine why he is doing such really STUPID stuff. Is there some payoff from someone down the road? If so, what is it? If not, then he's just stupid and crazy and dangerous. As Trump always replies when he doesn't know the answer, 'We'll see.'
3
Nunes is the definition of the hard right. The hard right is made up of individuals who believe in conspiracies and a more authoritarian approach to governance. The hard right, at its core, hates government at the most basic of levels. Nunes may very well be proud of such standing in that extremist portion of the Republican Party. In the end however, it is an extremist group, a minority group and a group that will not stand up well in history. Nunes 15 minutes of fame will end by the mid-terms and then he will face an entirely different viewpoint. The viewpoint of the more moderate moderate majority of America. November simply cannot come soon enough.
2
Nunes is a snake who happens to be a leader of a lot of lemmings. Ryan, by allowing Nunes free rein, is selling America to the highest bidder who is, in this case, Trump. Where is any signal of congressional pride and concern for our country?
A comment I heard on MSNBC resonates for me: simply that the MEMO will prove to be no more than Trump escapism and it will fall by the wayside. I hope that is the case.
3
This memo is not going to do a thing. Trump's supporters will still continue believing whatever that clown Trump says, and those on the left, along with some patriotic anit-Trump republicans, will continue to make sure Trump is fully investigated.
What Trumpsters think of Nunes is irrelevant, unless they live in his voting district. They will cheer on anyone who kisses Trump's ring. The rest of us -- the majority of Americans -- will keep hoping Mueller has a strong case against Trump. At the worst-- assuming he does not get us killed in the next three years-- will hang on until we can vote him out.
We have survived many things throughout our history, and we will survive this. Putin will NOT control America's destiny.
1
Trump is a terrible president.
But he was voted into office. The right response of Democrats would be to ask what was wrong with the message they conveyed during the election.
Instead, Democrats have tried to call into question the validity of the election by accusing Trump of collusion with the Russians on providing the Pedestal emails to Julian Assange who then proceeded to broadcast those emails to the world.
Those emails suggested that Clinton may have cheated in the Democratic primaries and that she lied on the campaign trail, in particular telling some groups that she favored open borders.
The emails suggested that Hillary Clinton may have been at least dishonest in her campaign appearances.
And although Trump has engaged in vulgar rhetoric and has many mistakes as president, there is no clear evidence that he actually colluded with Russia on hacking emails and providing them to Julian Assange.
Indeed, Vladimir Putin would have had ample motivation for doing this on his own.
And even if Trump and his team may have been delighted when told that Russians had dirt on Clinton, Clinton was also looking for dirt on Trump from a variety of sources.
Democrats seem to hope for a gotcha moment in which the President is caught lying under oath. But the whole process reeks of politics.
And an impeachment will further divide the country and be unlikely to actually remove the president.
One must ask: Why are Democrats pursuing such a pointless path?
1
“Mr. Nunes is the man behind a secret Republican memo that suggests the F.B.I. and the Justice Department abused their authority to obtain a warrant to spy on a former campaign adviser to President Trump”
If anyone is abusing authority it’s Devin Nunes. This man is a disgusting human being lacking any sense of morals and is helping to sink America deeper and deeper into the swamps Trump promised to get rid of. Making a memo public after cherry picking and not disclosing the full contents of the memo is misleading and disgraceful and should be considered a crime. Unfortunately this is now the norm in Washington.
I am disgusted and ashamed of this government and what they have become. Their only interests are self preservation; they have no concerns about the security of the nation and people.
3
A foolish man making a very poor decision that will haunt him for the rest of his life. Putting party over principles and most definitely over country... This will not end well for Nunes
3
Republicans continue to fool and con their base in order to pick their pockets.
But by underestimating the intelligence of the remaining American voters, the hapless Republicans have just increased the size of the November Tsunami.
2
There must be some very damaging information produced by these wiretappings. Why else this desperate attempt to make the collection of that evidence illegitimate. The risk and political cost is huge. The Carter evidence must be directly threatening Trump in order for him to throw the GOP under the bus. If the democrats take congress in November, the least of Trumps worries would be a temporary blocking of Muller from continuing to collect evidence. Trump can buy time, but the evidence and the truth will eventually come out.
3
Using the words "intelligence" and "Devin Nunes" in the same sentence is an oxymoron, no matter the context.
Did he have to hop the fence at the White House again to deliver this to his lord and master, who we all know wrote it in the first place? Why is it when Nunes speaks, you can see Trump's lips moving?
Picking unnecessary fights with the FBI based on partisan lies has a history of not turning out all that well. Doubt that will change.
6
Odd and deeply disturbing. In all of this madness about the FISA court process, no one seems to remember that an experienced Federal U.S. District Court Judge sits as the ultimate decisionmaker as to whether there is probable cause to approve and sign the warrant. The Judge has every opportunity to question the government attorneys submitting the affirmation/declaration under oath supporting the application for the warrant, and the declaration will include actual documents and records as evidence further supporting the request. This is the executive branch getting mandatory approval from the judicial branch after an independent review by the Court, just as the Framers intended. It is the total ignorance and stupidity of a dairy farmer and a condo salesman to think that any lawyer or FBI agent (most of them lawyers, too) in the Justice Department would intentionally mislead a Federal Judge under oath when making an application for a FISA warrant. Every educated, responsible Republican lawmaker knows this, too, and their silence in this regard is a shameful betrayal of the American ideal of the rule of law.
4
Despite what right-wingers are trying to confuse us about, things are pretty simple:
1. Carter Page had some very fishy meetings with Russian intelligence agents, and he had them for years. He's admitted to passing them documents. The FBI thought it important, got a warrant, and surveilled him.
2. The Republicans are now using this case to attack the FISA courts, and thus the FBI. Note: Republicans INVENTED the FISA courts, and recently renewed their mandate just three months ago.
3. They're doing things to tangle things up, threaten the senior FBI leadership, and threaten Robert Mueller. Trump appears to be planning to fire Mueller.
4. They're scared to death of Mueller--who is, despite the stupidity, a decorated Marine vet, a lifelong Republican, and Dubya's FBI head--and they should be.
3
i guess speaking truth to power is no longer acceptable. It's now telling ignorant people what they want to hear regardless of how dangerous or untruthful it is.
1
T is for Traitors. The hero-worshippers of the "hard right" own that scarlet letter and label.
Nunes and virtually every one of his congressional Republican colleagues, as well as the festering Trump administration, are traitors to our democracy.
The Republican motto: "Abandon hope (and any semblance of decency, honesty, morality, patriotism, and your conscience) all ye who enter here".
2
One tends to lose track of time with daily outrages and insults to truth and our Constitution by the Trump pack. But it seems it was just yesterday that an ex-NYC mayor not named Bloomberg was on Murdoch's Fraud Noise singing the praises of the FBI and informing us the NY office thereof was a bastion of Trump lovers.
Even recently one of the NY FBI retired officials from the 9/11 days is on one of Murdoch's networks, and not to praise his former boss either. What, pray tell qualifies a dairy farmer, (praiseworthy as farmers may be) to run this committee? His local Fresno paper is brave to call him out as a "Tump stooge", for that is what he is. As to that Wisconsin senator Johnson, he made a fortune in plastics which qualifies him to sit on the Commerce and small business committee, not the Intelligence panel.
1
Like many in the GOP - Nunes knows even if his actions are political suicide, that the hard right dark money (and open money) will ensure he is well off for his "valiant" efforts. This GOP administration is truly corrupt.
2
This memo is, to quote the GOP on Fox News, going to be such a "nothing burger" that by Monday the news cycle will be on to something else destructive Trump has done to the American people, economy or environment.
3
This "memo" scam is just a huge diversion, and everyone is falling for it like dogs running mindlessly after a thrown stick. It would be better to look to see who's throwing the stick and why.
4
I am so looking forward to the memo. Since when did the left not want something exposed?! I'll hold judgement until the rebuttal memo is released. Something I'm sure the people with TDS are unable to do.
5
There's nothing to expose except possible national security secrets. We already know what the memo says and what is wrong about it.
2
The problem is not what is being exposed, but what is not being exposed. As the democrats who have seen the memo explain, the selective leaking of confidential information from an ongoing investigation is not information, it is disinformation. It leaves a false impression (serving a specific political narrative). If you actually want the american people informed you should release all the information and at the same time.
2
You miss the point by a mile. If you are so concerned about exposure, support the Democrats who want the minority memo released.
100% obfuscation, and when this tactic inevitably fails, they will use the only one left and start a war...
28
For the sake of transparency, it would of interest to name the aides on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence who, reportedly, were responsible for drafting the memo. Could they be the same aides whom Nunes sent to London last spring for an uncoordinated and unsuccessful effort to meet with Christopher Steele, author of the controversial dossier?
26
If faced with a choice between tax cuts and democracy, the Republicans would choose tax cuts.
60
Republicans always feared and opposed democracy. Albeit he was great a man, even Abraham Lincoln was an authoritarian who unconstitutionally suspended habeas corpus.
During the 1930s, J.P Morgan executives and other Republicans actually conspired to use WWI veterans to seize the U.S. government from the Roosevelt Administration. A famous general who was uncommonly loyal to American democracy thwarted the plot.
Republicans never were bona fide American patriots.
Today, most Republicans are disloyal traitors.
1
He was on the transition team -- he has a vested interest in de-railing the investigation into obstruction of justice. Complicit along with his/Trump enablers, Paul Ryan and McConnell. Remove him from Congress.
35
Yes, people like Nunes will be voted out.
1
This crisis was almost assured to happen when Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Ryan refused to establish a bi-partisan commission of distinguished citizens to investigate and report on Russian's involvement in the 2016 election.
Instead, they chose to keep the investigation under their control within Republican controlled Intelligence Committees in the House and Senate. Now, they own the Nunes mess and their Party will suffer the consequences.
Unfortunately, the situation will worsen when President Trump purges the Justice Department and FBI, fires Mueller and attempts to shut down the Mueller team. The GOP is giving him permission to act.
27
Sorry to have to repeat myself but this is just another example of the active state of treason of the GOP since at least the 1970s. Historically it began in an open and active state with the Powell memo to the nation's oligarchs and politically minded GOP after both groups decades of complaining about the Dems control of the federal executive and congressional agenda. The Hard Right Wing marshaled their money and copied the Dems with their own so-called Think Tanks to amass PAC funds for use at the federal level. They also made a deal with the Evangelicals through Pat Robertson and his grassroots expert, Ralph Reed. Jerry Falwell's university provided people to apply for federal jobs that would lead to a base of right-thinking staff within federal agencies. With this as a base, they proceeded to take control of the federal government. Yes, mistakes were made but that did not deter the GOP and the wealthy from their goal. There is much written about this strategy to control and diminish the federal government. What we are witnessing today is simply a continuation of what has been in effect for at least 60 years. None of this excuses the political poverty of the lazy Democrats.
6
But what started out as legal machinations of party building has now morphed into a full blown effort to take-over of Federal law enforcement with the seeming purpose to control a damning investigation.
What is significant is that this Republican president must resort to lies and obstruction to protect a power base built on alleged money laundering levered with alleged blackmail of the President for unseemly acts in Moscow, way back when?
2
Nunes is carrying Trump's water, but as a supporter of the self-described "transactional" President, he wants something in return. That might be the new head of the FBI or, perhaps, replacing Rex as Secretary of State.
It doesn't make any difference what the job is; Nunes clearly wants out of the House and into the cushy shelter of an Administration job.
Where do we dig up such men?
17
If Trump fires Rosenstein, we'll see if there are any Republican patriots left in the Senate who not vote to approve a toady replacement.
There are many of them crawling out of the DC swamp
Nunes is trying to become a man on horseback, a leader who transcends the system and leads a nation into a new future, a man who makes a new system, inspired by Trump’s ability to seize high office with what seems like shear force of will. He’s a megalomaniac just like Trump. For now he’s attaching himself to Trump to gain support from those who support Trump. That is why he has stopped being a legislator and is devoting himself to serving Trump instead of doing his job.
What is happening in Washington is a breakdown of our governmental system with people like Trump, Nunes, Ryan, and many others abandoning democratic forms of conduct which while contentious are still inclusive in favor of forming factions intending to control and direct this country’s government without concern for all others. The dynamics of this behavior requires strong leaders unconstrained by legal principles who can master and wield power as individuals. Thus the image of the man on horseback.
Trump is bringing out the worst in the people with whom he works.
9
I see Nunes as a Don Quixote figure, riding backwards on one of his family dairy cows, leading the Republican charge toward an imaginary golden past. Sir Kevin of McCarthy, of the Bakersfield oilpatch McCarthys, is his trusty page.
If the American Republic is to survive Trump, it means that the GOP has to join Democrats to condemn the manipulation of the Press and American People by false accusations and smoke and mirrors coming from the Executive Branch meant solely to protect the President against accusations of collusion, and they must let the special prosecutor do his job. This does not appear to be happening. However, the rest of the world and most Americans can clearly see the credibility of the Presidency diminishing and our role as the promoter of the moral high ground being destroyed just because some people think Trump will make them wealthy and powerful.
6
The Party of Lincoln has been officially renamed as the Party of Benghazi.
No conspiracy theory is too low, too twisted, too paranoid, too false, or too extreme for the Grand Old Propagandists to flush their nation down the toilet with to maintain entrenched, fossilized Grand Old Power with.
America's Republicans used to hold the corrupt, bankrupt, anti-democratic, Soviet propaganda-power complex in contempt for decades.
Now America's Republicans emulate the corrupt, bankrupt, anti-democratic, Soviet propaganda-power complex.
Any American voter casting a vote for Russian-Republicans should really start waving the Russian flag.
The GOP has already burned the American flag without a second thought.
104
Usually, paranoia has been the realm of the fringe that is far from power. Nixon was paranoid, but that was a personality trait that did not infect the entire Republican party. Until Trump.
1
We're supposed to believe a memo written by an aide to Nunez based on information they never read? Nunez is in good company with his neighbor Kevin McCarthy who touts his small business expertise because he ran a subway stand out of his uncle's yogurt shop, an apparently underground small business for which he didn't have a business license or pay worker's compensation and payroll taxes for his "employees". My wife and I are small business owners, and these two are as much a fraud as Trump when he stiffed small business suppliers of their final payments, defrauded students at Trump U, and destroyed retirement accounts while he got rich off bankruptcies. Comey called them weasels and liars. I've always figured they were a nest of rats willing to sell out our great country for their personal gain.
22
Sadder than the fact that we have a corrupt President, are all his congressional enablers, with Nunes leading the parade.
47
One has to wonder - what could be driving Nunes to fall on his sword like this for Trump? This is the kind of stuff that makes you think about double-agency.
11
For years Rush Limbaugh used the catchphrase "Liberals are destroying America" whenever a Democrat congress or President enacted a law to protect clean water sources, or reign in abuses. The far right definitely has a different view on what is good for America and what America should look like.
Now that the GOP is in control of a unified government and Dem's can do little to stop their agenda it raises the question of just what Utopia the far right has in mind for American and what roads they are willing to travel to get there.
Left to their own devices, unimpeded or further emboldened if they can capture one more SCOTUS seat, can anyone imagine how far right they will aim, or how different their makeover of America and our institutions will become at the end of a two term Trump presidency? At what point would they stop remaking the America we've known and say enough is enough?
8
As an American citizen of Portuguese ancestry, I have been very proud of fellow luso-descendants and immigrants who were exemplary members of our society. Ernest Moniz and David Simas are great examples, to name a few, who have been recently in government.
I am now afraid that rep. Nunes will stay in history as an awful and indelible stain in our legacy. It may be my impression, but I have noticed an abandon of Nunes by the Portuguese press. They featured some nice articles on him when he was elected to congress. There is no word now. I guess we are all ashamed.
12
How singularly appropriate, Devin Nunes has written his own political epitaph: "Devin Nunes, once upon a time an up and coming political star flamed out, ended his political career as one of the despised 'lemmings in suicide vests'. He was assisted in destroying his career by Paul Ryan."
11
One can hope....
Had Comey done his job, none of this would be happening. Now that the veil has been lifted off of the Clinton's, and the previously untouchable(s) are no longer sacred, people are seeing the corruption for what it is (in more ways than one). Donald Trump's entire existence is owed entirely to the energy created by the actions of the FBI and DOJ in terms of its lack of pursuit of justice.
So now the veil is once again being lifted in a partisan way. The FBI and DOJ are warning - "don't do this... don't expose our dirty laundry to the world." Well, it is happening, and now Americans, for better or for worse, for educated and uneducated, are going to be exposed to a 'version' of truth.
So I go back to my original point - all this (I mean everything) could have been avoided had Comey done his job.
1
Deflection again, we see,; whataboutism to detract from the CURRENT problems. You can't re-write history or think that way. Just learn from it.... and THAT means NOT letting the WH intimidate our FBI and DOJ!
1
If Trump is as innocent as he claims, why is he acting so guilty? Why does his lawyers want to keep him from being interviewed by Bob Muelller? Why does he still refuse to release his income taxes? What possible explanation exists for why the Trump administration has failed to protect our country from a repeat Russian attacks in 2018 and 2020? The sooner we accept that Donald J Trump and his Republican enablers are working hand and glove with Putin, the sooner this case can be resolved. Trump's enablers in the House and Senate are doing their best to obfuscate the issue in order to save their political hides.
15
This will NOT end well for Trump or his Republican enablers in Congress. We The People will take back our government from the corporations and special interests that seek to loot critical social programs and destroy the environment. Sanity will prevail!
15
Let's just hope we live long enough to see it!
Well, marches and placards aren't going to do it. It may well require a stouter form of resistance. Sanity won't prevail out of some benevolent mist. It'll have to be shoved or dragged into returning and there wasn't much sanity before. If we want to keep this democracy, it's time to buckle up.
What kind of a world do we live in where the accused can accuse those charged with finding the truth in a case with being biased against them. Of course they are biased. Law enforcement does not seek to disprove evidence of guilt just because the accused says he is not guilty. Law enforcement's job is to build a case and if they can't the defendant is found to be not guilty. Also, what kind of world do we live in where an opinion, that is in itself biased, can be published with the sole purpose of influencing and discrediting those that are investing a case where no evidence one way or the other has been released. These things can only happen in Banana Republics.
14
If/When this blows up in Trump's face, he will call Mr. Nunes a "coffee boy" that he barely knew, like his own campaign manager who suddenly became such a stranger. Trump's own meeting with Russian spies in his own office without American press seems to be an odd thing.
You have to wonder too that Mr. Gowdy suddenly found another career after his incessant Congressional investigations of Clinton. It would serve the American public to have Mr. Nunes under oath, along with Mr. Trump and others.
17
please save us from central valley republicans. having lived in california or over 40 years i can say that within that time they have never done one good thing for the state or the country at large. they are always a roadblock to real progress. nunes is another in a long line.
9
Hey. They're not all from the Central Valley. Some of them are from Orange County and San Diego County, too.
right you are! but i have a special place in my heart for the shear ignorance of the big Ag republicans.
Seems that Nunes & the Repubs singlehandedly have politicized this process of demonizing our law enforcement officials. The memo they've written isn't bi-partisan whatsoever, yet they claim it is accurate without any vetting and AFTER edits were made that the WH didn't see. Inspector Clouseau, indeed!
8
The corruption and distortion of facts continues. It's not the fake news that should concern us. It's the application of fake intelligence in the persons of Nunes and Trump that is most disturbing. The manipulate facts to best suit their political needs. Feed it to the base and they reap the benefits.
The truth will catch up with both of them quickly and they won't know what to do with it nor will their base.
4
Their base will know what to do with it: Ignore it.
Here's a novel idea. If there is a problem with the FISA warrant, why not address your issues to the FISA court?
10
Ernst Rohm and Rudolf Hess were heroes of the far right. So were Orval Faubus, Nathan Bedford Forrest and Alexander Dubrovin. Joseph McCarthy was too, as was Roy Cohn and he was a good friend of Trump’s. Nunes is in exactly the sort of company he deserve and presumably desires.
21
Devin Nunes, vaulting into the lead for "Most Likely to Obstruct"!
This is just like reality TV, which is what 60+ million Amurkins voted for. THAT is to be our enduring problem, long after Nunes and POSPOTUS are gone.
5
As the country becomes horrifically aware of where we have come as a nation over the last 18 months or so, I take comfort only in the fact that Robert Mueller is well ahead of us and is smart and understands criminal behavior better than all us regular people. The bungling and the antics are worthy of the three stooges sideshow it is meant to be.
2
When I think of the people who have gone to jail to do genuine good with whistleblowing, to get the truth out at great cost to themselves, when I think of the people who have risked or given their lives to get information to protect this country of ours, and then we see this. Devin Nunes may or may not be working for a foreign power, but he is definitely trying to replace our form of government with something else, something not of the people, by the people, and for the people.
He is a seditious, lying apparatchik with more power than he has earned and the ability to cause great damage. The only reward he deserves for his perfidy is time in jail.
8
If Devin Nunes is a hero, that exemplifies just how convoluted our country has become.
I think John McCain is the depiction of heroism. McCain’s real heroism cannot be, in any way, compared to Nunes. The names of these two should not be used in the same sentence structure with the word “hero” somewhere in there.
You want to see real heroes of the US? Go to the Vietnam Wall, the WWII memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, Arlington Cemetery.....you get the DC vicinity I am speaking about. Those and so many others have sacrificed the ultimate and truly are heroes. Our family has a member and others whose heroism lies there. You feel “hero” when you walk on those grounds.
Devin Nunes is a disgrace to Washington, never a hero.
4
This descendant of Portuguese immigrants apparently provides both documentation preparation and delivery services. It's difficult for me to understand how he accomplishes all of this on his own. Other people who do what he does enlist the services of many different professionals and charge a fee. However, I'm not sure he's thought this whole thing through, beyond his own compensation.
2
"Hard Right"...is that what we're calling extremists now.
The Republican Party is being taken over by authoritarian extremists who seem determined to bring Putin's illusion of democracy to America.
In Putin's Russia you are free to have the illusion of freedom as long as you are willing to bow down on your knees to Putin and his gang. You are either part of the authoritarian system of persecution, inequality, and summary justice...you know, pretty much the opposite of the Constitution...or you are the "enemy".
The American Constitution is the most perfect declaration of democracy and freedom that has ever been created. It is not just the defining moment of America, it represents the world's best hope for those values. That, and not America's military might, is why America is the leader of the free world.
Those special values of freedom and liberty are being taken away from America by these Republican extremists, led by Trump...who is clearly owned by Putin.
Your time is running out America...you are under attack from within, by home grown extremists and an Authoritarian who share Putin's vision of the world, not the Founders vision.
4
My plan is to donate to whoever stands up against this assault and puts the American people back ON the agenda, whether that be democrat, independent or republican.
Now who is running against Mr. Nunes? I think it is time for him to put that AGRICULTURE degree to work!!!
2
The title of the article used the term "Hard Right". However, In the context of U. S. politics, the term "Hard Left" appears absent or nearly absent In the NYT recent history. Can someone explain this?
More specifically I search the times for "Hard Left" and found no references in the context of U. S. politics since Jan 1. There were sports references, and European European poitical references, but none in the context of U. S. politics.
I did the same for "Hard Right" and found more than 10.
I would think left and right are relative to a political center and equal numbers would be on each side of a given countries center.
Is the center of the times so left of the country's center that no one appears "Hard Left"? Or is another term used to mean extreme left.
Does our country not have a hard left? Is Antifa hard left? Please explain.
Interesting, but not surprising. I still believe most of the US is fiscally and socially moderate and it's the hard right AND LEFT that divide us.
Agreed. Whenever I see a relative term like left or right I ask myself compared to what. What is the NYT definition of center. They do use hard left for Europe at times,
Of course he's a hero to the far right.
He joins the illustrious club of hacks (i.e. Issa, Chavez, Gowdy) who have put partisanship ahead of their constitutional responsibilities.
1
Is it obstruction when Trump drafts a memo for Nunes to undermine the FBI and the Justice Department? Maybe not, if the memo is factual and complete. But apparently that is disputed. And the facts are classified and unavailable for public examination. And the agency that has the power to adjudicate such things is run by the guy “authoring” the memo.
Checkmate?
Not yet. But the smoke soon to envelop the matter will leave everyone free to imagine their own idea of the truth. Ryan’s version of that truth is foreordained.
2
The release of this memo will give us a glimpse of the lawlessness in the previous administration and hopefully lead to the prosecution of those involved.
Comey actually allowed Hillary to break the law exposing top secret information in her emails because he felt she didn't intend to break the law.
Their actions threatened our freedom and democracy.
7
There was no evidence that top secret information was disclosed to anyone. Some emails contained information that fell into some classified category but there was no evidence that it was disclosed. That narrative was nothing but puffing and opinion by people seeking political gain from a controversy. People are entitled to their opinions but when they misrepresent facts, they go from advocates into manipulators.
5
Be consistent. By defending President Trump who is willingly releasing classified information that could threaten national security exposes your hypocrisy.
The President can declassify anything he wants. But he is clearly showing his personal security is paramount over national security.
1
Casual Observer - The law doesn't say you are only guilty if your mishandling of classified emails results in the disclosure of classified information.
Security experts say it is highly likely the information was disclosed.
A hero is someone who will put themselves in harms way to save others, so how is this bum a hero, he is merely a spin doctor for the hard right and years ago we used a term for this type of information.
"Propaganda" and the dictionary defines propaganda as the spreading of ideas or information to further or damage a cause and in this case he's looking to damage the FBI.
If he's trying to say they're biased I can think of no greater person in this world that is biased as Trump.
Nunes like Trump will bring about the end of what was once a great part of this nation the Republican Party and what it will mutate into is anybody's guess.
48
Don’t see Trump having any problems with someone’s (Nunes) Hispanic ancestry like he did with that judge last year. Kudos to the President on his evolution to be more tolerant. Bravo.
6
It's not one's ancestry that matters to Trump but how useful or harmful one can be in his schemes.
1
You ARE being sarcastic, right?
It is pretty clear the Mr. Nunes failed his civics classes. The legislative branch is a check on the executive! Mr. Nunes feels it is fine to be the lap dog for the president and to turn his back on his primary responsibility under the Constitution. He was sworn in to protect and defend the Constitution of the United States and everything he has done since this administration has come into power it to turn his back on the oath. Not only has he shirked his duties as a congressman but he now has aided a foreign power by releasing sensitive documents in the hopes of helping his real boss. Shame on the Speaker for supporting this treachery.
244
This is such a thinly veiled attempt to manipulate the American people. How can anyone with any sense not see that releasing a memo written by someone that is partisan only tells one side of the story? The FBI has been very clear that the omissions in the memo are a problem. This is just going to instigate another round of leaking to counteract the dangerous move that Nunes and his cronies are making- all to divert attention and oust Mueller.
46
They’re doing it to muddy the waters, to inject innuendo, to add doubt and uncertainty to the investigation.
THATS THEIR OBJECTIVE !
The memo is just apart of a lengthy list that the traitors use to confuse the public. I know the NYT readers are up on this story but guess what, 60% of the country doesn’t have all the facts to determine truth regarding this memo. So if the Russian Republicans can manipulate the narrative via propaganda, that’s what their doing. It’s straight from the Soviet Union playbook.
Treason.
2
Mr. Nunes has always given me the creeps. A career politician without any other profession to fall back on, he preys on anyone and on any issue that can elevate him higher in the eyes of his base. The article points out he was elevated to a position involving national security because he was an adept fund-raiser.
I am absolutely ashamed of what is going on in Washington. Even the left is not calling it like they see it. I just want someone to speak the truth. The only person who has in years was Bernie. Somebody give that guy a BIG microphone.
32
It's unclear if Nunes' actions on behalf of Trump are solely ideologically based.
If you get my drift.
11
Given Devin Nunes past actions, I think we will eventually find out that Nunes and his staff met with White House operatives BEFORE the memo was drafted and shown to Mr. Trump supposedly for the first time to get approval for the memo’s release. In other words Trump’s staff most likely drafted this memo. I also believe that Devin Nunes is colluding with the White House to release this information in order to give Mr. Trump political cover when Trump later pardons individuals who will soon be charged with obstruction of justice by the Mueller investigation into Russia’s interference with our 2016 presidential elections.
I am sure Mr. Trump sees the memo’s release as a “get out of jail for free card” for Donald Jr., Jared Kushner, and any other family members who may even be charged with money laundering.
I didn't think that the governing party could become more dysfunctional, more unethical, or more diabolical, but I was wrong. As other true Republicans have said, there is a cancer in the party and it is quickly spreading. I can’t determine whether “leaders” like Mr. Ryan are so naive as to see Mr. Nunes as honorable and above reproach, or whether Mr. Ryan is grossly incompetent and part of this scam.
94
In regard to your last paragraph the answer is "All of the above,"
1
Ryan is grossly incompetent and is deeply a part of this scam. Ryan is also a traitor to the United States, along with Nunes and Trump.
2
I am sure David Duke is a hero to some as well.
Being a hero to the hard right is not all it’s cracked up to be!
Question: is the audit over? Ya know the audit that trump was under that prevented him from sharing his financial info.
Well?
I mean DJT promised to share his returns once the audit was over.
36
I hope Nunes enjoys the adulation because I see a rocky road ahead for this traitor. Time to bring up the quote about truth being like a lion. You don’t need to defend it, just let it loose and it will defend itself. It’s tough to have faith in the era of trump that truth will win out, but we must.
26
Agreed. The FBI has been under fire before and knows how to do its job. While Trump and Nunes shoot blanks, albeit noisy ones, the pros are lining up a solid case against them. These dummies don't know the law and don't listen to their lawyers and have no clue they're standing in quicksand calling it a spa treatment.
I wonder if Mr. Nunes' attorneys will use a first Amendment Defense when he is being tried for obstruction of justice, which is what his "memo" nakedly is.
25
He'll just cite "executive privilege" - after all Trump is his buddy, until he isn't. Maybe he should ask Steve Bannon how life is outside of the fast lane.
"With Memo, Nunes Now Seen as Hero of the Hard Right"
All this carrying on about a document written by "Nunes, now the Hero of the Hard Right" that alleges, without any proof, that the Russia investigation by the FBI and Mr Mueller is a biased against Trump, the con man in chief, who has been documented as having lied over 2,000 times in his first year in office. And we are supposed to believe this?
If Trump is innocent of any wrong doing, as he has repeatedly claimed, why is he afraid of the investigation? If Trump is innocent, why has the "Hard Right" deemed it necessary to create a bogus document to protect Trump? Trump has claimed many times that he is eager to meet with Mr. Mueller and also said he would testify under oath. So, why are Trump and the republicans trying so desperately to stop the investigation?
17
What's in it for Nunes? Other than new GOP friends I mean. For this guy to so publicly behave as Trump's stooge there must be some sort of payoff that he is anticipating. A greater position in the House bestowed by Ryan? Money from Trump or the RNC? Come on, NYT investigate and find out.
25
Mr. Nunes is a traitor to both his party and the American people. History will not be kind to these scoundrels!!
68
Only if the righteous SURVIVE to tell the story.
He will be a footnote in history, to be filed along with Benedict Arnold.
This case becomes stranger and stranger.
One paper says the source of information for a Fisa warrant doesn't matter. Another says it's central and critical.
One paper says funding for research by one party/campaign during an election against another candidate produces inherent bias. Another says it's irrelevant.
One paper says this is all a smoke screen to deflect attention from the Russia investigation. Another says releasing the memo is acting accordance with a law established in the 1970s--in response to abusive wiretapping and surveillance--exactly as the law intended.
One paper says says releasing something like this threatens national security. Another says General Kelly, who reviewed and approved its release, is a patriot who woukd never harm this country.
One paper says things like this should not be released for partisan reasons. Another points out how many such things have newspapers printed for partisan reasons.
This whole story, from beginning to end, is one of "alternative facts."
7
I didn't mean the story here is alternative facts. But that coverage by the media can't seem to agree on even the basic facts of what is happening.
2
The spin from both sides is dizzying.
This arricle doesn't say anything about that. It reports on how Nunes became Trump's flunky, to the detriment of the country.
I realize you'd like to tangle things up as much as possible and stick up for Trump, but come on already.
1
If Trump is innocent, why does he need to discredit the investigation and the FBI?
136
This is really the basic issue at the bottom of all of this hysteria. An innocent man would let all this run its course.
1
Since Nunes announced he would not seek reelection it was obvious the fix was in. Trump has promised to set him up nicely when he leaves.
26
Probably in the Department of Justice.
Yeah, Trump's word is gold, right? Mr. Nunez may think he's the heir apparent on the right he's a lump of coal next to Mr. Trump's star power which is heading into a black hole.
@James
And yes, we know what a trump promise is worth ....
Donald claims to be a master salesman. He's figured out how to re-brand obfuscation as transparency and Fox will help him sell it. He does know his audience.
30
Maybe for now, he's the hero. But politicians are fickle. Ideologues are even more fickle. As soon as Nunes steps out of line, the so-called Tea Party extremists, and Rebekah Mercer, and all their fair-weather acolytes, will turn on him and gobble him up.
Nunes is the flavor of the week. The problem is that every week ends.
21
It's part of Vampire lore, isn't it? The vampire occupies the castle. The vampire bites his servants and guards, who in turn bite the peasants. Everyone becomes a vampire. The Original Vampire even has a Russian-sounding name. Count Trumpula, sire of the Putinski Castle.
15
Let's be clear, this is part of the ongoing obstruction of justice being perpetrated by Trump.
If, as has been suggested, Trump participated in the production of, and efforts to release this "document", then Mueller will need to add this to the investigation. Trump has apparently said he believes the document will discredit the investigation, so his motives are clear.
My question is if this must be investigated, how does this affect congress. It would seem that at a minimum Mueller will need to interview Nunes and his staff and probably others. There is also the chance that Nunes and others have opened themselves up to criminal exposure.
If any of these members become materially involved in the investigation how will that effect any potential impeachment proceedings? Will the GOP find even more ways to expand the growing constitutional crises?
34
Can we now have a similar piece about Mr. Schiff, about his own political motivations regarding the memo controversy, his partisan background and how Democrats are rallying around him?
4
I think an examination of Schiff's background and actions would smell a lot better than this one.
19
Have you heard of false equivalence? Dems seem to understand their role in Constitutional duties, Reps do not? Why don't you understand it is the question?
2
Did Schiff need to recuse himself from the committee's investigation?
Apples and, um, dirt clods, my friend.
1
When the nation's top law enforcement organization starts investigating officials from a particular political party, there are only two options:
a) highly respected career law enforcement officials have all simultaneously decided to abandon their pledge to uphold the law and carry out their duties in the proper manner and to begin being involved in partisan politics - for no clear reason.
or
b) leaders of the targeted political party are engaging in questionable and potentially criminal behaviour that warrants investigations by law enforcement.
So which of these options are more likely?
And who is more credible here: the serial lying, ethically-void President? Or multiple respected law enforcement leaders supported by thousands of rank and file career officers?
Gee, let me think about that one for a bit.
309
James,
Most level headed Americans will always pick b), especially when so many of the reports and evidence indicates that indeed there is a political party that is actively engaging in what appears to be potentially criminal if not treasonous behavior!
1
AS a retired LEO, I am troubled that the Republican Party is willing to damage to the FBI, our premier Law Enforcement Agency for Counter-terrorism, and do additional damage to our Intelligence Communities at Large to save face--for the President. I feel the actions are tantamount to Treason against the United States of America.
404
FBI damaged itself, don't shoot the messenger
Couldn't agree more
Federal Treason Law:
Definition: In Article III, Section 3 of the United States Constitution, treason is specifically limited to levying war against that state or aiding the enemies of that state, and conviction requires two witnesses or a confession in open court.[2]
Penalty: U.S. Code Title 18: Death,[8] or not less than 5 years imprisonment and not more than life imprisonment without the possibility of parole (minimum fine of $10,000, if not sentenced to death).[9][10]
Penalties fitting the act
1
The Nunes Memo does not damage the FBI as a body, but rather casts doubt on the honesty and reliability of its leadership as well as of that of the Department of Justice.
As an aside, please have a look at the Constitution's provisions regarding Treason.
1
This country was sold for $1 million dollars. That's how much it's worth for Republicans.
$500k cash payment by the Kochs to Paul Ryan after the passage of the tax bill, and another $500k deposited to various RNC political groups for the 2018 elections. One family, bought and owns this country, for $1 million dollars.
Putin's job of creating chaos is made easier by Republican short sighted greed.
85
Devin Nunes never recused himself from the Russian investigation. He stepped aside as chairman of the House Intelligence Committee after the House Ethics Committee announced it was investigating whether Nunes broke House rules by revealing classified information in conversations with the media about the Russia investigation. Nunes announced he would let Rep. Mike Conway “temporarily take charge” of the committee’s Russian investigation. However, he continued to work as a committee member. In December, the House Ethics Committee cleared Nunes of allegations that he disclosed classified information.
1
Ah, the master hair-splitter resurfaces. The FBI cleared General Flynn, as well, until that guilty plea, right, Mr. Case?
1
Nunes a hero?
the law maker who abdicated his duties to be full time fluffier for "Collision Trump", is a hero?.
He has no dignity left, and I doubt he had any to begin with.
18
When the Trump campaign hired Carter Page as an advisor Page was already under surveillance by the FBI. The FBI could have alerted the campaign that Page was bugged but they did not. The ongoing wiretapping of Page was potentially an eavesdrop in to the inner sanctum of Trump, his family and the Trump campaign. It could have been avoided had the FBI informed the campaign. Because Trump was not informed that Page was bugged it looks like a suspiciously political maneuver that allowed FBI to listen in.
Just because you're paranoid it doesn't mean they aren't out to get you.
7
The key words here are the Trump campaign hired Carter Page. And Manifort. And Flynn. See a pattern?
No wonder the FBI kept mum about an ongoing investigation... unlike Trump, giving Putin our security plans and working with him for 'our' security is probably not high on the list of most folks in the FBI and CIA. Mine either.
2
Regular guys hold a press conference to announce they delivered the White House information the White House delivered them.
Regular guys refuse to say who authored a memo that smears law enforcement officials.
Regular guys don’t bother to read the material underlying the smears of law enforcement officials.
Regular guys release a memo in the name of transparency while refusing to release a memo that calls the accuracy of the first memo into question.
Regular guys disclose classified information with cavalier disregard for consequences to support a politician whose central theme was his opponent should be locked up for treating classified information with cavalier disregard.
Regular guys concoct a memo that accuses Republican law enforcement officials of conspiring against a Republican president, because those officials renewed an application to surveil a person who was recruited by Russian spies in 2103, met with and delivered documents to Russian agents through 2015, traveled to Moscow twice in 2016 and delivered speeches criticizing the United States, and whom Sean Spicer in December 2016 denied having anything to do with the Trump campaign.
Regular guys have become news to me.
27
OK, but he's not a serial killer ...
2
The FBI has “grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.”
Now I don’t know how the rest of you feel but that comment alone sends up all manner of red flags as to the usefulness of the document that is to be released. You could cherry pick items from any document and make it sound bad or good according to what was released. As I recall someone did that with the Constitution and had certain Republicans going mad about subversion and sedition. This is a silly, dangerous game that Nunes and Trump are playing and it undermines the very security services that protect the nation. It sends a message that Trump is above the law because nobody should be allowed to investigate him and NOBODY is above the law.
16
Let us be clear: The Hard Right are not patriots. If Nunes is a hero to this lot, that says a great deal about who he is, who Trump is. Americans that subscribe to the ideology that your fellow American you disagree with is your enemy, and not merely your adversary, are antidemocratic and dangerous. It is astonishing how short some people's memories are.
22
I really wonder what motivates Nunes and Republicans like him. Is it pure hatred for the left? Is it fealty to a president who will never return the favor? Is it fear that if the president looses power, all Republicans will go down with the ship? Is it trying to stake a claim to the farthest right position possible for the sake of being unique? Is it a lack of understanding principles such as due process? Whatever is behind this person and mindset, it sure looks bad for both him and our nation.
9
To The Republican Party: I have always voted for the "best person" in an election. I have voted both Republican and Democrat.
After experiencing the lies, the deceit, the hypocrisy of the Republican Party since Donald Trump has taken office - from this day forward I will NEVER vote for another Republican candidate.
With each day that Donald Trump is in office, our country unravels within in it's borders and around the world. I look at Donald Trump and my stomach turns.
Now I hear the word Republican and my stomach turns as well.
57
So what you have is a typical Republican reactionary hack bordering on treason attempting to protect a "president"* who obstructed justice and who is neck-deep in corruption.
In other words, business as usual in right-wing fantasy world.
108
Here's the gist, from the few patriots remaining in the House, who are now almost all Democrats. The Republicans have sold their souls to "winning" a la Trump.
"if the task was to distract delay deflect obstruct, mission accomplished." http://docs.house.gov/meetings/IG/IG00/20180129/106822/HMTG-115-IG00-Tra...
Source: House meeting on releasing the Republican spin memo, that distorts for the purpose of destroying justice, and, in the process, our country.
It is not yet criminal to be a Democrat, but apparently the Republicans are eager to persuade you that we are criminals. This is dangerous and all too reminiscent of the path to power of other dictators in the world's history.
79
Moles and gophers and weasels in tunnels everywhere protest: Nunes is not related. Rats joyously claim him. So, a dispute over golf fees would compel Mueller (an uber successful attorney/law enforcement guy with integrity to spare) to betray his country? A couple of dedicated FBI agents/lawyers in love are going to throw the election to Hillary, even though one of them pushed to reopen the Hillary email kerfluffle out of an extreme sense of duty and probably threw the election to Donald .... because this couple agree that Trump is a Moron, their actions are tainted? Everyone acknowledges that Trump is a moron.
And a Team Trump bozo talking to Russians recruiting operatives for financial and political information on US citizens gets caught in the chatter, is followed for months with clear participation in Russian shenanigans, and the FBI are naughty for doing due diligence to protect us from this kind of stuff?
Wow. Smoking guns. GOP are traitors, Trump is up to his orange neck in something dirty, and he should've taken the gold toilet when offered.
If we have to see Paul Ryan looking like a Nun with Concussion one more time, bestowing that dopey adoring gaze on the back of Donalds sticky head, we're gonna gag. To the Streets. Everyone.
180
Amen to "To the Streets. Everyone."
The Republicans are hell bent on rallying around conspiracy pushers like Devin Nunes, Alex Jones, NewsMax etc because it serves their purpose of obstructing and confusing the truth and actual facts. Despicable.
266
You must have missed all the text messages and Comey's testimony when he lied about the timing of his memo.
"A spokesman for Mr. Nunes did not respond to messages seeking comment."
How is it possible for a public servant to refuse to comment to the press over something this important?
"He’s focusing on keeping our country safe, focused on national security,” he told reporters here at the Greenbrier resort, where congressional Republicans are gathered for their annual retreat. "He’s focusing on keeping our country safe, focused on national security,” he told reporters here at the Greenbrier resort, where congressional Republicans are gathered for their annual retreat." How can Paul Ryan actually mouth these words with a straight face? Once again, on a daily basis republicans are proving they have no interest in participating in a democratic republic.
126
Trump has set the bar so low for Republicans that Devin Nunes and Stormy Daniels are now seen as heroes to the party.
251
Exactly! The Devin an Stormy Show.
I actually like Stormy Daniels for trolling Trump - who stupidly thought he bought her off. She was quite entertaining on Jimmy Kimmel, finding ways to confirm the affair without violating her confidentiality agreement. Daniels appears to think Trump is a bozo and she's coming out of this with more dignity than Trump.
Don't besmirch her!
1
And people like Roy Moore are martyrs. It's absurd.
2
If they are so certain, then the FISA court is also complicit. When will the majority party support law and order among their ranks, instead of undermining it?
78
because republicans think that they are above all laws.
1
“Republicans were rallying around Mr. Nunes.” That says everything. It gives Nunes the cover he needs to launch his attack on the one branch of our government that has kept our country safe for over two centuries. With the Executive and Legislative branches (along with the full support of conservative media) joining together to overthrow our current system of governance, Americans can only look on helplessly as Republicans move to defend a Russian operative over their own FBI and DOJ.
The GOP tells us over and over that it is of the utmost importance to get this memo out to the American people so they can decide for themselves if the FBI and DOJ have been actively trying to overthrow Trump. This is not for the American people to decide. We are not qualified to make any decision. We have not and will never see the underlying facts of this assertion. Nunes has orchestrated this power play by releasing his three and a half page manifesto of deceit. While Russia continues its relentless attack on our country, the GOP attacks those who lay their lives on the line to defend us. Nunes a hero of the hard right? Maybe, but let’s be truthful. A more accurate depiction of Nunes, along with Trump, Ryan, and their ilk, would include being traitors to the United States of America. Put that in the memo.
425
That Trump fearing he’s being actively “overthrown” isn’t crazy if you consider that he’s being investigated for crimes that should remove anyone from office. And if you consider the fact the only a king can be overthrown or dictator. He’s right but he’s not right for the reason he thinks. Dangerous criminals don’t belong in the White House Regardless of political party
2
"Mr. King said. The truth, he said, is somewhere in the middle: “Devin is sort of a regular guy.”"
Thank you for that hyperpartisan remark Mr. King.
I just hope there will not be any damage to "sources and methods" of the intelligence agencies when Nunes completes his stunt, aided and abetted by partisan hacks like Peter King.
48
Well, Mr. Nunes is a bit ordinary. That's what makes him such a good gofer for the Trumpian machine.
15
The new hard-right entertainment man designated to appeal to the same "base" that approved of Trump's birther nonsense and Gowdy's endless grandstanding hearings.
109
I know Bob Mueller's plate is pretty full these days, but I hope he saves some time to give Devin Nunes the legal treatment he deserves.
462
Tsk, tsk -- are you recommending Nunes be investigated because we don't like him? That's not the way the law works. Show me where he's broken the law, or you're as bad as he is.
Exactly my sentiments.
1
if Nunes puts anyone in jeopardy because of this Mueller or someone should be all over it... of course who went down because of Valerie Plame?
2
So the Republicans have put the fate of their party in the hands of Devin Nunes. It is difficult to comprehend an act as desperate as this.
535
They love their jobs too much. Originally, being in Congress was an inconvenient duty. Now it's so loaded with privilege and goodies...
3
We need the democrats' 10 page memo from the House Intelligence Committee also if Nunes' 4 pager will be revealed. If the attempt to inform the public is the impetus for revealing this info, them we need to hear from both points of view...you know, in a democratic fashion.
It is important to realize that Nunes won the last election uncontested by an opponent, so someone from Tulare or West Fresno needs to emerge in 2018 in hopes that we can rid ourselves from this sort of distortion.
1
Very desperate individuals who didn't want trump to win, did unlawful over-reach. Let's talk about the real news now. Don't try to change the subject here.