A Democratic memo was released by the House Intelligence Committee on Saturday. The memo reveals details about the FBI’s investigations into the controversial Russian involvement in the 2016 presidential election. It is recorded in the memo that the FBI team which was investigating possible collusion between Russia and the Trump campaign had already begun sub-inquiries into a number of people connected to the campaign when it received a controversial dossier claiming dishonest involvement between the Kremlin and then-candidate Trump.
According to the memo, the dossier which was compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele was only presented to the FBI’s counterintelligence in mid-September 2016. By that time, the investigation by the FBI was already seven weeks old. The 10-page document was released by the committee after weeks of contention between the panel’s top Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff and officials of the Department of Justice over the classified information he intended to release.
Objective of the Democratic Memo
It is not clear whether the memo was declassified by President Trump or whether the document redacted by the FBI and Department of Justice omitted any remaining classified information in the memo. However, this opens a partisan front in a battle that has consumed the House Intelligence Committee and has interrupted its attempts to investigate into Russia’s interference in the 2016 presidential election. Their investigation has come to a halt even now as Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s criminal inquiry into Russia’s involvement has gained momentum. His investigation saw a major development last week with the indictment of 13 Russians for plotting an operation to steal Americans’ identities, stage campaign rallies in the US and run a social media campaign in support of Trump.
President Trump on Saturday tweeted concerning the memo, calling it a “total political and legal bust”. He added that it reaffirms all the terrible things that were done.
The Democratic memo was intended as a push back at the GOP memo that Trump declassified three weeks prior that claimed FBI officials secretly and misleadingly obtained a warrant to spy on Carter Page, a Trump camp foreign policy adviser. It also mentioned that Steele Dossier was involved in the FBI request for a warrant, even though Steele’s work was funded by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee and this was not communicated to the judge. The Democratic memo argues that the judge was well aware. The Democratic memo continues the ongoing feud between the two parties.
