The Daily Beast says the Department of Justice is warning House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (D-CA) not to release his four-page memo without letting the FBI and DOJ see it first:
In a letter sent to Nunes on Jan. 24, Stephen Boyd, the Justice Department’s top Congressional liaison, wrote that “it would be extraordinarily reckless for the Committee to disclose such information publicly without giving the Department and the FBI the opportunity to review the memorandum and to advise the HPSCI [the House intelligence committee] of the risk of harm to national security and to ongoing investigations that could come from public release.”
That letter also said the Department is “unaware of any wrongdoing” related to the FISA process – indicating the Department disagrees with the scores of Congressional Republicans who say Nunes’ memo is proof of wrongdoing.
The Atlantic's Natasha Bertrand tweeted a link to the full letter:
JUST IN: DOJ's Stephen Boyd has sent a letter to @DevinNunes saying release of *the memo* without review by DOJ/FBI would be "extraordinarily reckless." Says the memo purports to be based on "classified source materials that neither you nor most of" the committee "have seen." pic.twitter.com/F0pmL34vhk
— Natasha Bertrand (@NatashaBertrand) January 24, 2018
The New York Times explains a little more clearly exactly why Nunes making his misleading memo public, especially without the intelligence community's review, is dangerous.
People familiar with the memo said it centers on a fall 2016 application for a FISA warrant targeting Carter Page, a onetime member of the Trump presidential campaign who had recently visited Russia. The memo is said to stress that the application used information from a former British intelligence agent, Christopher Steele, without adequately explaining to the judge that his research was financed by Democrats.
But people familiar with the underlying application have portrayed the Republican memo as misleading in part because Mr. Steele’s information, which was also compiled into a notorious dossier, was insufficient to meet the standard for a FISA warrant. The application, they said, drew on other intelligence that the Republican memo misleadingly omits — but revealing that other information to rebut the memo would risk blowing other sources and methods of intelligence-gathering about Russia.
Meanwhile, The Daily Beast adds that President Trump and his Republican allies' relentless attacks on the FBI are taking a toll:
Ron Hosko, who formerly headed the FBI’s criminal investigative division, said morale in the bureau is “sagging.” ...
He added that members of Congress were acting reckless and peddling conspiracy theories in arguing that the FBI hastily obtained a surveillance order known as a FISA warrant based on British ex-spy Christopher Steele’s dossier of salacious allegations involving Trump.
“I think there are people who are intent on damaging the FBI, facts be damned,” he said.
Ali Soufan, a retired FBI counterterrorism special agent, warned that the attacks on the bureau were draining their accusers’ credibility.
“Some of the Republicans attacking the FBI are isolating themselves from otherwise sympathetic FBI agents. It’s no secret that the FBI tends to lean conservative,” Soufan said. “The few GOP politicians attacking the FBI are, frankly, demagogues. They’re putting party and self-interest above country. They are damaging national security. They unfortunately gave up any moral authority.”
The full story behind the Nunes memo is complicated. USA Today has a clear summary that explains what we know so far.
Full story: DoJ Warns That #ReleasetheMemo Would Be ‘Extraordinarily Reckless’ (Daily Beast)
Secret House memo: Shocking facts or misleading hype? (USA Today)
F.B.I. Texts and Dueling Memos Escalate Fight Over Russia Inquiry (NYT)