As the country collectively waits with baited breath for the release of the classified intelligence memo that alleges to detail abuses by members of the FBI and DOJ in obtaining legal authority for surveillance of Trump associates, Democrats and many of their allies in the national media are doing anything and everything to assure the memo is not released, and if it is, that its contents will be called into question. Leading the charge in disseminating misinformation and outright lies is House Intelligence Committee Ranking Democrat Adam Schiff.
While it is self-evident why the FBI and DOJ should not want anything made public that might reveal the corrupt dealings of some of its own members, it is less readily clear why elected officials like Schiff, who love to talk about transparency and the need for openness as representatives of the American, should be so adamant in their opposition to allowing the American people to have the truth.
Now Schiff and his apologists, like House Minority leader Nancy Pelosi, all say that the memo is misleading, or doesn’t contain all the facts—something someone in the FBI posted on Wednesday, as the official FBI position—so naturally that means, in their view, it doesn’t represent the truth. Yet, when confronted on this very thing, and anyone suggests that the underlying intelligence be released in total, with necessary redactions to protect sources and methods, this too is shot down, as being unrealistic for two reasons. Either the American people just won’t understand it, or it would be impossible to release the intelligence without exposing the sources and methods necessary to understand the intelligence being read! It is this last point that is likely why the FBI press release citing “grave concerns” speaks about “material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.”[Note: it does not say the content contained therein is inaccurate] Essentially they are saying you need more information to have a more accurate understanding of what’s in the memo, and the only thing that could provide such context is sources and methods, which are too sensitive to actually be included in the memo!
You see how that last one works. If the sources and methods are necessary to understand the abuses that are alleged, then isn’t it all the more pertinent that those methods themselves be changed? This is the solution that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes and company are arguing for, but want the American people to be read into that decision making process because these methods were used against citizens. So, to keep things from coming into the light of day, and purely for political reasons, Schiff and his companions are intent on continuing a game of misdirection and purposeful obfuscation.
Here is but the latest example. Schiff claimed in a letter he sent to Nunes Wednesday night there were “material” changes to the legislative work product that the Committee had originally voted on.
BREAKING: Discovered late tonight that Chairman Nunes made material changes to the memo he sent to White House – changes not approved by the Committee. White House therefore reviewing a document the Committee has not approved for release.
Nunes responded through a spokesperson that the changes referenced were shared with Adam Schiff, and were actually nothing more than some minor edits to the drafted memo that resulted from the executive branch—FBI Director Wray—making a request upon initial review, some grammatical errors that were addressed, as well as changes requested by the Democrats on the Committee themselves! In fact, Republicans claim the Democrat edits were made before the vote! Democrats of course deny this, and say that the changes are so significant that they warrant another vote on the “new” memo. So, who to believe in this game of he/said, she/said?
As will be explained, it is highly probable it is the Democrats who are lying here, and if that’s true, it is an obvious effort by the Democrats to keep the memo from being able to be released. Consider. If this new memo was brought back for a vote, then it would have to go through the same process as before and it would be another two weeks before we could once again possibly have the memo released. At that time, the Democrats could do the same thing again. Rinse and repeat.
Nunes isn’t falling for the obvious partisan efforts of the Democrats from keeping the truth contained in the memo from being released.
The truth of how the process of de-classifying the intelligence product occurs is the proof that exposes Schiff and others for the liars they are. It seems the media writ large isn’t even slightly curious about learning about this process when they report on Schiff’s claims as though they were evidence of partisanship by Nunes.
Schiff wrongly asserts in his letter, even though he knows what he is saying is false—unless he is willfully ignorant, a distinct possibility—that any changes made the initial work product contrary to that which was approved for submission by the House Intelligence Committee. Note: Schiff and company are expert liars who have been claiming Nunes and others haven’t even read the memo, or the underlying intelligence, which is being contradicted by other members of Congress, who claim to have read the intelligence. The Democrat claim is patently ridiculous as far as Nunes is concerned, as his intelligence security clearance as a member of the Gang of Eight means he would not only have access to the memo, but the underlying intelligence.
The memo is classified legislative work product of the legislative branch. The legislative branch is asking the executive branch to declassify the memo, because the executive branch is the only one with the legal authority to do so. When Nunes invited FBI Director Wray to review the memo on Sunday night he was inviting the executive branch to preview the work-product prior to submission, and specifically the intelligence agency, whose intelligence helped inform the memo. It would be ordinary for any minor executive-branch-requested adjustments to be made, prior to submission/approval for executive declassification. In fact, Pelosi, in her rant on CNN Monday night following the vote to release the memo, even lamented the fact that the FBI and DOJ weren’t being allowed to “redact” things in the memo. This is precisely what has happened here, and Schiff is now acting like it’s a problem?
Additionally, Schiff, along with most corporate media, are trying to present the intelligence community (DOJ/FBI) as a fourth branch of government. They speak often of the “independence” of the FBI and DOJ from the President—this current President specifically. Former Obama Director of National Intelligence (DNI) James Clapper attempted the same argument on Wednesday night during a CNN appearance. Those departments are a part of the executive branch! As a quick aside, Clapper did confirm that surveillance of Trump associates did indeed occur, which contradicted statements he had made in 2017—Jake Tapper, holding true to CNN “journalistic” standards, did not call him on his clear contradiction of earlier statements, but I digress!
The normal review for any declassification request, for all departments, is a review by the National Security Council, the Office of Legal Counsel; all impacted cabinet officials; all heads of potentially impacted national security departments (DOJ-NSD, FBI Counterintelligence, NSA, CIA, State, DoD etc.); along with the White House Chief-of-Staff (General Kelly). This is what has been taking place over the last several days. That review complete, it’s now up to the Chief Executive, President Trump, to sign off and release. This is the formal process, and this is the process that has been followed.
Chairman Nunes, by his position as head of the House Intelligence Committee, is directly responsible to conduct oversight on the intelligence apparatus within the national security departments as they relate to potential FISA and FISC abuses. The person directly above the HPSCI chairman in this regard is the Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan. Devin Nunes has followed the correct procedure for notifying the chain-of-command of a violation based on his oversight findings. Paul Ryan was notified. In fact, Ryan has called for the memo’s release, citing the need for transparency.
Once the issue of intelligence abuse is identified via committee review, and with the House Speaker informed of the committee findings, the next step is to inform the head of the Executive Branch, that’s President Trump.
Now that President Trump has been notified of abuses within the intelligence apparatus, directly under the supervision of the executive, President Trump is compelled to take action to resolve those abuses. In the matter of the specific FISA-702 abuse surrounding the surveillance of Trump associates, solely as an outcome of the specific DOJ/FBI conduct, the office responsible for dealing with the misconduct is also the office victimized by the misconduct. Yet, any action by Trump will be necessarily be met by Democrats and the media with claims of Trump trying to undermine the Russian probe—CNN ran a story Thursday suggesting just such a thing!
As of this writing: it is being reported that Trump will send the memo, with possible redactions made in consultation with members of the intelligence community—this is why five FBI agents were at the White House Wednesday—along with approval for public release, so that the Committee can have the final say on its release date. This frees Trump from such obstruction charges, but, it also means that Nunes will continue to draw direct fire from the media and Democrats.
It is patently obvious that for political reasons alone Schiff, and his party leadership, are intent on selling a false narrative that Nunes is undermining the institutions of the Intelligence Community. If people accurately review events against the backdrop of factual structures of government: legislative branch, judicial branch, executive branch, the claims by Democrats toward “undermining institutions” fall flat, and the lies they are foisting on the American public, with the aide of many in the media, are readily perceptible.
William M.Finley
Dr. Gary Katz 1st
Liaison Officer at USMC and IDF
Mr. Finley has successfully surpassed [by a very wide margin] the now decaying and irrelevant trash NYT. Congratulations, Bill! By the way, I frequently pass along some of Mr. Finley's posts and many of his accurate and pithy introductions and analytical commentary to a group of Prime Ministers, military officials, and people of integrity...from all walks of life. With respect & Appreciation, Dr. Gary Katz
