Thomson Reuters
U.S. President Trump looks on during the World Economic Forum annual meeting in Davos
- The controversial memo authored by Rep. Devin Nunes alleges that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein extended a surveillance warrant for a prominent associate of President Donald Trump based on unverified research by the author of the Trump-Russia dossier.
- The memo, which itself makes unsubstantiated claims, paints a grim picture of the Russia investigation as being tarnished by corruption and partisanship.
- Trump may want the memo released because he thinks it vindicates his fears about the investigation and shows that members of his circle were targeted by the Justice Department based on unverified information.
President Donald Trump has recently echoed fellow Republicans in calling for a controversial memo House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes wrote about the Justice Department to be released - and we might now know why he's so eager.
The secret memo states that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein moved to extend surveillance of former Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page in spring 2017 because he had reason to believe Page was acting on behalf of the Russian government, The New York Times reported.
The memo also mentions that when they were initially seeking a warrant to begin surveilling Page, the FBI and the Justice Department did not fully explain to an intelligence court judge that they were acting based on information uncovered by former British spy Christopher Steele, the author of the infamous but still unconfirmed dossier detailing Trump's alleged connections to Russia.
Because Rosenstein extended the surveillance, the memo alleges, it is possible he did so on the basis of unverified information - and tarnished the name of a high-profile Trump associate in the process.
The memo is itself unverified and makes several unsubstantiated allegations, painting a picture of a Russia investigation that had been maligned from the beginning by corruption and partisanship at the FBI and the Justice Department. Similar claims have been made since the release of thousands of anti-Trump text messages between FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.
As the chorus against the agencies heading up the Russia investigation has grown over the last few months, many Republicans including Trump have been calling for the memo's release in hopes it will vindicate their fears. But Democrats have reportedly authored a memo of their own that counters the claims made in Nunes's memo.
Rosenstein has emerged as a key player in the Trump administration, and was the primary author of the letter the White House released in order to rationalize Trump's firing of former FBI Director James Comey in May 2017. But as special counsel Robert Mueller's superior, Rosenstein has also pledged to protect his investigation into Russian election interference from congressional intervention. Rosenstein also reportedly met with FBI Director Christopher Wray and House Speaker Paul Ryan about his concerns about partisan intervention in the Russia investigation earlier this month.
Rosenstein's commitment to shielding the investigation from interference has reportedly irked Trump as well, and the president has complained about the independence of the Justice Department in recent weeks.