Trump Claims "Total Vindication" By Nunes Memo But The Facts Prove Otherwise

Taking to Twitter this morning, Donald Trump claimed the now-infamous Nunes memo "totally vindicates" him and his campaign of any wrong doing asserting yet again that the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election is an "American disgrace."

It's not clear if Trump actually read the memo he authorized to be released. If he had, he would have seen the sentence that read “The Papadopoulos information triggered the opening of an FBI counterintelligence investigation in late July 2016 by FBI agent Peter Strzok.”

So the FBI was already investigating the Trump campaign before the Carter Page FISA warrant was issued.

Additionally, the FISA warrant was re-upped three times after it's initial issuance. Different judges (appointed by Republicans presidents) approved these along the way.

The full memo can be read here.

Here's how the Twitterverse responded.

This memo totally vindicates “Trump” in probe. But the Russian Witch Hunt goes on and on. Their was no Collusion and there was no Obstruction (the word now used because, after one year of looking endlessly and finding NOTHING, collusion is dead). This is an American disgrace!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2018

Quite the opposite, Mr. President. The most important fact disclosed in this otherwise shoddy memo was that FBI investigation began July 2016 with your advisor, Papadopoulos, who was secretly discussing stolen Clinton emails with the Russians. https://t.co/2rGOE1jGg2

— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) February 3, 2018

That’s it? Dishonest and misleading memo wrecked the House intel committee, destroyed trust with Intelligence Community, damaged relationship with FISA court, and inexcusably exposed classified investigation of an American citizen. For what? DOJ & FBI must keep doing their jobs.

— James Comey (@Comey) February 2, 2018

Trump’s on a tweet rampage against FBI/DOJ for being too helpful to Dems. But there’s a problem with that theory:

Comey? Republican.
Wray? Republican.
Mueller? Republican.
Sessions? Republican.
Rosenstein? Republican.

I guess, to him, upholding the Constitution is pro-Democrat.

— Tim Kaine (@timkaine) February 2, 2018

It’s a good thing Devin Nunes is not taking my course on national security decision making. I expect my students’ written work to be compelling, accurate, and unbiased. By those standards, I would have to give him an F. Let’s hope his constituents do the same in November.

— Madeleine Albright (@madeleine) February 3, 2018

Wow. Now this #FISAMemo is truly Fake News from the House Intelligence Committee. It's based on two lies 1) Steele dossier was the basis of Carter Page FISA warrant, it wasn't. 2) Steele dossier was initiated by Hillary's campaign. It wasn't, Republicans started it #memoday

— ♻️ Christopher Zullo (@ChrisJZullo) February 2, 2018

As I have said repeatedly, I also remain 100 percent confident in Special Counsel Robert Mueller. The contents of this memo do not - in any way - discredit his investigation.

— Trey Gowdy (@TGowdySC) February 2, 2018

"A person familiar with the matter said that four separate federal judges approved the surveillance of Mr. Page, and all of those judges were appointed by Republican presidents." https://t.co/DI5LCfwkoc

— Eric Geller (@ericgeller) February 3, 2018

The Nunes memo confirms that the FBI launched an investigation because the Russian government told a Trump campaign official that they had stolen emails from Trump’s political opponent. That Trump official has since plead guilty to lying to the FBI. https://t.co/VHs4bWVmMI

— Jon Favreau (@jonfavs) February 3, 2018

Memo actually confirms a timeline not favorable to Trump:
1. Counterintelligence probe opened in July 2016 by FBI because of George P./Wikileaks/emails.
2. FISA application on Carter Page obtained late Oct. 2016, after Page had left Trump campaign.

— Glenn Kessler (@GlennKesslerWP) February 2, 2018

And just for extra credit, can we through in this tweet from White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders? She had no idea how right she was at the time...

When you're attacking FBI agents because you're under criminal investigation, you're losing https://t.co/SIoAxatCjp

— Sarah Sanders (@SarahHuckabee) November 3, 2016

Report: White House Insiders Fear Nunes Memo Could Be "Underwhelming"

As the political world awaits the eventual release of the now-infamous "Nunes memo," reporters are hearing that the reveal could be underwhelming and not the "slam dunk" folks have touted it to be.

Via Axios:

Inside the Trump administration, sources who've been briefed on the Nunes memo expect it will be underwhelming and not the “slam dunk” document it's been hyped up to be.

What we're hearing: There is much more skepticism inside the administration than has been previously reported about the value of releasing the memo, according to sources familiar with the administration discussions.

Be smart: Trump still wants to release the memo. But there are a number of people in the White House who are fairly underwhelmed, and there's internal anxiety about whether it's worth angering the FBI director and intelligence community by releasing this information.

What’s next: Trump will almost certainly approve the memo’s release. The internal debate, now, is more around whether to make further changes to the memo — redactions to protect sources and methods — on the advice of the Intelligence Community.

This is unreal. Two of my @FBI agent/friends who work in different field offices told me they are going to resign if the @DevinNunes lie-filled memo is released. "Our jobs are dangerous enough w/o a bunch of politicians putting targets on our backs for the crazies," one said.

— Kurt Eichenwald (@kurteichenwald) February 1, 2018

.@DevinNunes is putting our national security at risk, ignoring concerns from the FBI & DOJ to advance a conspiracy theory. RT if you know Speaker Ryan must #RemoveNunes immediately! pic.twitter.com/dMBef0491t

— Nancy Pelosi (@NancyPelosi) February 1, 2018

Rep. Joaquín Castro says he understands “there are appreciable differences” between the Nunes memo voted to be released by the House Intelligence Committee and the revised memo that was sent to the White House https://t.co/lOg1vawNrM https://t.co/kCp2WtVBmW

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) February 1, 2018

Republican And Democratic Sources Contradict Nunes' Surveillance Claims

Rep. Devin Nunes

CNN is reporting Democratic and Republican lawmakers have reviewed the intelligence reports brought to light by Rep. Devin Nunes and found no evidence that Obama administration officials did anything illegal regarding the information.

Their private assessment contradicts President Donald Trump's allegations that former Obama national security adviser Susan Rice broke the law by requesting the "unmasking" of US individuals' identities. Trump had claimed the matter was a "massive story."

However, over the last week, several members and staff of the House and Senate intelligence committees have reviewed intelligence reports related to those requests at NSA headquarters in Fort Meade, Maryland.

One congressional intelligence source described the requests made by Rice as "normal and appropriate" for officials who serve in that role to the president.

And another source said there's "absolutely" no smoking gun in the reports, urging the White House to declassify them to make clear there was nothing alarming in the documents.

White House Officials Revealed As "Source" Of Devin Nunes' Intel Reports

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes

The New York Times is reporting that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes' source for "evidence" that Trump associates were swept up in intercepted communications with foreign officials came from inside the White House.

A pair of White House officials played a role in providing Representative Devin Nunes of California, a Republican and the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, with the intelligence reports that showed that President Trump and his associates were incidentally swept up in foreign surveillance by American spy agencies.

The revelation that White House officials assisted in the disclosure of the intelligence reports — which Mr. Nunes then discussed with President Trump — is likely to fuel criticism that the intelligence chairman has been too eager to do the bidding of the Trump administration while his committee is supposed to be conducting an independent investigation of Russia’s meddling in the last presidential election.

Several current American officials identified the White House officials as Ezra Cohen-Watnick, the senior director for intelligence at the National Security Council, and Michael Ellis, a lawyer who works on national security issues at the White House Counsel’s Office and formerly worked on the staff of the House Intelligence Committee.

A White House spokesperson declined to comment.

Mr. Cohen-Watnick is a former Defense Intelligence Agency official who was originally brought to the White House by Michael T. Flynn, the former national security adviser. The officials said that this month, shortly after Mr. Trump wrote on Twitter about being wiretapped on the orders of President Barack Obama, Mr. Cohen-Watnick began reviewing highly classified reports detailing the intercepted communications of foreign officials.

Nunes has cancelled all hearings for the House Intelligence Committee without any explanation. He has not shared whatever information he was given by the two White House officials with anyone on his committee.

Rep. Nunes Won't Share Source Of His Intel Indicating Team Trump Caught Up In Incidental Intelligence Round-Up

Rep. Devin Nunes

Via Reuters:

U.S. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes said on Tuesday he will not divulge - even to other members of his panel - who gave him intelligence reports that indicated President Donald Trump and his associates may have been ensnared in incidental intelligence collection.

Asked by a Fox News reporter whether he would inform the other committee members about who gave him the reports he viewed on the White House grounds last week, Nunes said: "We will never reveal those sources and methods."

This is sounding more and more shady.

Nunes was on Trump's transition team.

He was at the White House last Tuesday, where he viewed the intel showing Trump's peeps were caught up in incidental intelligence (meaning Trump wasn't target, but Trump's peeps were talking to intelligence targets).

And he won't even share with his colleagues on the House Intelligence Committee who his source was?

This is not how you convey to people that you are being nonpartisan.

#Shady

Even Republican House members aren't buying Nunes' line of bull:

Rep Walter Jones (R-NC) wants Intel Cmte chair Nunes to recuse himself from Russia probe

— Chad Pergram (@ChadPergram) March 28, 2017

Top House Intel Committee Dem: Chairman Nunes Trying To "Choke Off" Info To Public

Ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee Rep. Adam Schiff says the chairman of the committee, Rep. Devin Nunes, didn't share info with committee Republicans or Democrats: "All of us are essentially in the dark."

Schiff also told reporters today that Chairman Nunes has cancelled an open hearing of the Intel Committee to "choke off" information to the public.

Schiff says Nunes didn't share info with committee Republicans or Democrats: "All of us are essentially in the dark" https://t.co/medIVEYewt

— NBC News (@NBCNews) March 24, 2017

House Intel Chairman: I've Never Heard Of Trump Associates Roger Stone Or Carter Page

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes told reporters today he had never heard of Trump associates Roger Stone or Carter Page.

Rather stunning that the man looking into the allegations of Trump collusion with Russian interference could state with a straight face he had never heard of these characters who have been in the news so much in the past months.

Here's the video: House Intel Chmn Nunes tells @DavidCornDC he's never heard of Carter Page or Roger Stone —via @MSNBC pic.twitter.com/y3wJeOoHUt

— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 20, 2017

GOP House Intelligence Committee Chairman: No Evidence Of Any Trump Wiretap

Rep. Devin Nunes

Appearing on Fox News Sunday this morning, Rep. Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, announced that there is no evidence of any wiretap at Trump Tower ordered by the Obama administration.

“Was there a physical wiretap of Trump Tower? No, there never was. The information we got on Friday continues to lead us in that direction," said Nunes.

The congressman from California also added that their was "no warrant that I'm aware of," that would have authorized a wiretap at Trump Tower.

The Trump White House continues to push the unproven allegation of surveillance even though the Intelligence Committees in both the Senate and the House have reported there's no evidence to substantiate the claim.

Watch Nunes below:

The ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Rep. Adam Schiff concurred with Nunes during his appearance on Meet The Press today:

1. This is a very important point. It's really time to STOP investigating whether Obama wiretapped Trump. He didn't. https://t.co/wLlaGPlTAo

— Judd Legum (@JuddLegum) March 19, 2017

GOP House Intelligence Committee Chairman On Trump Wire Tap Allegations: "Clearly The President Was Wrong"

Congressmen Adam Schiff (L) and Devin Nunes (R)

Republican House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes told reporters this morning he thinks President Donald Trump was wrong when he accused President Barack Obama of wiretapping him.

Nunes, an 8-term U.S. Congressman from California, also says he doesn't believe Trump Tower was wiretapped at all.

"I don't think there was an actual tap of Trump Tower," the 8-term Congressman from California told reporters during a joint press conference with Intelligence Committee Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-CA).

"We don't have any evidence" that President Obama tapped Trump Tower, Nunes said. Going further, he added, "I don't think there was an actual tap of Trump Tower."

"Now you have to decide, as I mentioned to you last week, are you going to take the tweets literally? And if you are, then clearly the president was wrong," he said.

Note how very uncomfortable Nunes is here. He can't even look the reporters in the eye.

GOP House Intel Chair Nunes: “clearly the president was wrong” if you take his tweets literally that Obama physically wiretapped Trump Tower pic.twitter.com/LolgpwTUaz

— Bradd Jaffy (@BraddJaffy) March 15, 2017

As the White House staff has begun parsing the president's accusations, let's go back and remember just exactly what it is that Trump is alleging:

Terrible! Just found out that Obama had my "wires tapped" in Trump Tower just before the victory. Nothing found. This is McCarthyism!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017

Is it legal for a sitting President to be "wire tapping" a race for president prior to an election? Turned down by court earlier. A NEW LOW!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017

How low has President Obama gone to tapp my phones during the very sacred election process. This is Nixon/Watergate. Bad (or sick) guy!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 4, 2017