Details of a highly controversial memo, which contains information on several abuses of federal surveillance, have been released to the general public. Upon its declassification, President Trump gave his approval of the memo, and it has since become public knowledge.
House Republicans put together the compilation of the four-page memo’s information. It describes various ways the FBI and the Department of Justice have been using improper surveillance methods during the Russia investigation.
However, Democrats are dismissing the memo, saying it contains edits made by Republicans that show unfair bias against President Trump. In return, House Democrats plan to release their own memo as a rebuttal.
According to Fox News, the memo addresses various key points, including:
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Christopher Steele, who compiled the controversial dossier containing colorful but unverifiable claims about Trump, confirmed to former associate deputy attorney general Bruce Ohr that he “was desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being president.”
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The dossier was key to the FBI’s FISA warrant in its surveillance of members of Trump’s team, according to the memo.
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The FBI and DOJ obtained an initial FISA warrant targeting Carter Page, a former foreign policy adviser to Trump.
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The surveillance warrants and renewals did not mention that the dossier was paid for, at least in part, by the Democratic National Committee and the campaign for Hillary Clinton. The memo says the DOJ was aware at the time of the initial FISA application that “political actors were involved with the Steele dossier.”
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While Ohr met with Steele, Ohr’s wife was employed by Fusion GPS, the firm contracted to produce the dossier, and was assisting in opposition research on Trump, according to the memo. This information was also not included in the warrant.
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Former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe told the House Intelligence Committee in December 2017 that a surveillance warrant would not have been sought without the dossier and what it purportedly revealed.
