#ReleaseTheMemo/FBI-DOJ Investigation Thread

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Surprise these thread isn't bigger as this is the top story

Nothing to discuss until the actual memo is released.

The Trumpers/GOP (as if there's a difference) believe whatever is dumped into their hollow skulls.

Anyone with a brain following politics knows Gowdy and Nunes would sacrifice their own underage daughters to a golden statue of Trump.

Most of the rest of the country doesn't follow political news that closely and doesn't care, yet.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

My prediction: the Gowdy-Nunes memo will attempt to falsely portray the entire investigation into Trump and his campaign's Russian contacts and other misdeeds as being started solely by the DNC or Hillary's campaign, while doing their best to avoid acknowledging that the Trump campaign hired one or more known or suspected Russian agents.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Donald Trump 'has not read' the classified memo he plans on releasing: White House

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So, setting aside as secondary the fact that this memo is naked obstruction of justice by the criminal organization known as 'the Republican Party'  in a desperate attempt to protect their leader, Donald J. Trump (R-Moscow) from any investigation into his various criminal actions, it is also either an open demonstration of gross negligence by the President, or an attempt to reveal American intelligence sources and method to his Russian collaborators.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Yeah, Nunes's stunt is DOA

@krassenstein

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The narrative is set, and much damage is done. I honestly doubt the memo is released... the idea of it is more valuable than the reality

Yes and no.


If the GOP is playing a nastier version of their politics as usual this century, then yes, you're right. An unreleased memo alleging that the FBI is crooked and in the pockets of the Democrats ( and/or just out to get Trump) is far more useful than anything they could actually expose to the light of day (and public scrutiny).

But there also seem to be many Republicans who want to use the memo as an excuse to purge the FBI in order to stop any remotely objective investigation into Dumb Leader's transparently obvious crimes. And an unreleased memo is useless for that.

Of course, there's also the fact that Nunes, Gowdy, and much of the White House (including the Twit-in-Chief) and GOP in general are just small-minded and stupid. So rational thinking may not correctly predict their motives.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Rising White House fear: Nunes memo is a dud

No....way....what.....?

Has there been a point in time where there have been as many dummies running the government as we have right now?

1774?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

You know, it just occurred to me that foucsing on the memo is a pretty terrible strategy for the GOP because it shifts the focus back to the Russia investigation and the Steele Dossier rather than JOBS, THE STOCK MARKET, TAX CUTS, and WINNING BIGLY

My presumption has been that Trump and his stupidity trust think Mueller is getting close to major dirt: conspiracy, money laundering, obstruction charges for  Qusay and Uday Trump, or Don Trump himself. They're doing this out of desperation and fear.

Or maybe they're just really stupid.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Read the memo. LOL, all that hype just for this? It doesn't contradict the idea that the Steele dossier wasn't the origin of the investigation. And then for some reason at the end it tries to make it sound as if Papadopoulos being monitored was unjust despite the fact that he later was indicted and is the the most blatant lawbreaker of the people being investigated.

This will have approximately no effect on anything, and no one outside political junkies like us will care, carry on everyone.

You misread the Trump cult. This will be like the Dead Sea scrolls to them 'proving' the Russia investigation has been a Hillary Clinton / Deep State conspiracy against their messiah. Whether the Cultist-in-Chief sees it the same way, and what he does in response... who knows?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Is anyone following what Hannity was spouting today?

I haven't watched him, but he, and the American version of Pravda he works forFOX News appear to be pushing "the memo proves it was all a plot between the Democrats and the FBI" conspiracy theory.

Hannity's colostomy bagblog:

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He links to Trump Central TelevisionFOX News: House memo states disputed dossier was key to FBI’s FISA warrant to surveil members of Team Trump

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Pretty close to what I predicted back on Tuesday:

My prediction: the Gowdy-Nunes memo will attempt to falsely portray the entire investigation into Trump and his campaign's Russian contacts and other misdeeds as being started solely by the DNC or Hillary's campaign, while doing their best to avoid acknowledging that the Trump campaign hired one or more known or suspected Russian agents.

(Not that it was exactly hard. Wading though the depths of TrumpCo's cleverness doesn't get one's toenails wet.)

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Presented without comment.

Kelly should take away his phone for a few days, at least.

No, Congress should take away his job.

This has been obvious for over a year. He needs to be impeached, the sooner the better, or we will all end up wishing he had been. This is never going to get better until he is out of office.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

This is not normal. And I’m tired of being told to ignore it, or it’s just how he is, or the American people knew what they were getting into. He really needs to be impeached and this has nothing to do with his party. I would say the same thing if he were a Democrat. The Republicans act as if Hillary Clinton will get his seat if they throw him under the bus. Jesus.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Issuing this memo showed more about the vapidity of the GOP than about any faults of the FBI.

The “memo” contains no proof of anything really. It’s a piece of paper written by Republicans in an attempt to further dismantle our government.  They’re trying to undermine those investigating them and their leader and they’re trying to further consolidate their power and hold over the country.

And they wouldn’t be doing this if they weren’t afraid of something.

I am surprised that Republicans aren't trying to abandon the Duce -- or are too many of them compromised? Maybe it was more than the 2016 Presidential election that was messed with. Senate seats, too?

Of course this is all speculation, but if there was tampering with the results of the Presidential election, there would be effects in the Senate elections, too. 

While, as the NRA illegally taking money from Russia shows, it's certainly possible that the GOP are all criminals (for their actions related to the election I mean - they're obviously guilty of obstruction as a party), I think Occam's Razor says it's more likely that they're backing Trump to the hilt because they're a pack of stupid, hateful bigots who hate everything good America stands for.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Report: Nunes Wants to Publish As Many As 5 More Memos

https://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2018/02/report-nunes-wants-to-publish-as-many-as-5-more-memos.html

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This is insane.

The GOP really is the greatest threat to our democracy.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I think this means Trump really is going to go down the path of harassing the investigation (in a manner he thinks he can claim is legal). This matches up with his past legal history of not complying with court orders, filing frivolous lawsuits, etc.

Of course, what they're really doing is telling Mueller that they'll do everything within their power to mess with his investigation, until he actually throws them in jail for obstruction. And counting on the lapdog GOP to refuse to impeach for that obstruction.

What it does to the country, Trump doesn't care, of course.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

I find accusations of blackmail lazy but seriously I can't account for Nunes' incredibly persistent and slipshod behavior otherwise. The Russians simply must have something on him which is forcing him to run interference for Trump so baldly.

Honestly, I get the feeling Nunes is just a weak man hopelessly out of his depth given the demands of that position at such a vital moment in American history (I don’t think he’s dumb, this is all in the context of someone who reached the level of House Intelligence Committee Chairman) and is essentially having a George Wallace moment (doing something he knows to be terrible to [in his mind] help his career in the short-term that will long-term ensure that he is remembered as a Russia-coddling, unpatriotic partisan hack from California).

I think this is probably closer to the truth. (Though I expect we'll never really know.)  I suppose it's possible he's being blackmailed (by Russians or someone else), or acting as an agent (instead of doing his job) for someone else for other reasons.

But I think it's also important to keep in mind that people, even those with a ton of influence, can just be out of touch or acting under stupid motivations. (And once people go down a path of poor decisions, it can be hard to admit how deep a hole they've dug themselves, so they keep digging.) It can be easy to lose track of the forest for the trees, especially in DC where there are a lot of people who are really charismatic and have outsize personalities, or to get surrounded by nothing but yes-men or fellow-believers. It's also easier than ever to lock yourself in an information bubble. Not of that excuses doing terrible things to the nation, or purposely abandoning the oath of office.

All that said, I don't think myself that Nunes really believes in what he's doing. He might or might not think he's got a good goal, but he must know that what he's doing is awful low. That memo is an obvious twisted mess of deliberately calculated lies. It wasn't put together by someone who believes what they're saying, even if they do believe in the cause they're supporting.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

The Donald is back on attack mode:

The Twit had to tweet about something. And for some reason he apparently didn't want to brag about "his" stock market today.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

And here comes the walk back:

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That is an epic own goal

Not sure I agree. Anyone willing to read the damned memo, and do some critical thinking (or even do something more than watch FOX News or dump raw sewage into their brainlisten to talk radio was never going to be a Trumper in the first place. This is all about feeding their base and keeping them hooked on anger and self-righteousness.

It's not like they're going to win fair elections no matter what they do. (Unless they get really lucky, and Boko Haram sneaks across the Mexican border to attack a Catholic girls school.) So they need to ensure the faithful are, well, faithful when the time comes. Whether that's an economic crash, Dumpf calling for riots in the streets, or something else doesn't really matter. The key is they need to keep their cult loyal, stupid, and feeling good.

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Wait what?

According to Preet's podcast, can't the full House just overturn this?

LOL. This was a coordinated effort with Nunes and the WH. The committee unanimously votes to release it in the name of “transparency” while Trump blocks it to protect national security. The brainless hacks in the House are not going to overrule their Dear Leader. It’s never getting released unless it is heavily redacted.

So... how long until it leaks?

[Absentee Voting Ghost of Ruin]

Trust me, the Schiff memo is right where Schiff and the Democrats knew it would be and wanted it be.  Unable to be released due to disclosure of sources and methods - So they can pretend it has damaging secret information on Trump & the Republicans that Trump doesn't want you to know.

I see you're adopting Trump's sophisticated "I know you are but what am I?" defense he cleverly stole from the third-graders.