text: The Nunes memo is a document created by the staff of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) that alleges the FBI abused its surveillance authority, particularly when it sought a secret court order to monitor a former Trump campaign adviser. The FBI and the Justice Department had lobbied strenuously against its release. On Wednesday, the FBI had said it was “gravely concerned” that key facts were missing from the memo. President approves release of GOP memo criticizing FBI surveillance 
   
   THE WHITE HOUSE 
   
   WASHINGTON 
   
   February 2, 2018 
   
   The Honorable Devin Nunes 
   
   Chairman, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 
   
   United States Capitol 
   
   Washington, DC 20515 
   
   Dear Mr. Chairman: 
   
   On January 29, 2018, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (hereinafter ?the 
   
   Committee?) voted to disclose publicly a memorandum containing classi?ed information 
   
   provided to the Committee in connection with its oversight activities (the ?Memorandum,? 
   
   which is attached to this letter). As provided by clause 11(g) of Rule of the House of 
   
   Representatives, the Committee has forwarded this Memorandum to the President based on its 
   
   determination that the release of the Memorandum would serve the public interest. 
   
   The Constitution vests the President with the authority to protect national security secrets from it 
   
   disclosure. As the Supreme Court has recognized, it is the President?s responsibility to classify, 
   
   declassify, and control access to information bearing on our intelligence sources and methods 
   
   and national defense. See, Dep of Navy v. Egan, 484 US. 518, 527 (1988). In order to 
   
   facilitate appropriate congressional oversight, the Executive Branch may entrust classi?ed 
   
   information to the appropriate committees of Congress, as it has done in connection with the 
   
   Committee?s oversight activities here. The Executive Branch does so on the assumption that the 
   
   Committee will responsibly protect such classi?ed information, consistent with the laws of the 
   
   United States. 
   
   The Committee has now determined that the release of the Memorandum would be appropriate. 
   
   The Executive Branch, across Administrations of both parties, has worked to accommodate 
   
   congressional requests to declassify speci?c materials in the public interest.1 However, public 
   
   release of classi?ed information by unilateral action of the Legislative Branch is extremely rare 
   
   and raises signi?cant separation of powers concerns. Accordingly, the Committee?s request to 
   
   release the Memorandum is interpreted as a request for declassi?cation pursuant to the 
   
   President?s authority. 
   
   The President understands that the protection of our national security represents his highest 
   
   obligation. Accordingly, he has directed lawyers and national security staff to assess the 
   
   1 See, e. S. Rept. 114?8 at 12 (Administration of Barack Obama) (?On April 3, 2014 . . . the Committee agreed to 
   
   send the revised Findings and Conclusions, and the updated Executive Summary of the Committee Study, to the 
   
   President for declassi?cation and public release?); H. Rept. 107-792 (Administration of George W. Bush) (similar); 
   
   E.O. 12812 (Administration of George H.W. Bush) (noting Senate resolution requesting that President provide for 
   
   declassi?cation of certain information Via Executive Order). 
   
   declassi?cation request, consistent with established standards governing the handling of 
   
   classi?ed information, including those under Section 3.1(d) of Executive Order 13526. Those 
   
   standards permit declassi?cation when the public interest in disclosure outweighs any need to 
   
   protect the information. The White House review process also included input from the Of?ce of 
   
   the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Justice. Consistent with this review 
   
   and these standards, the President has determined that declassification of the Memorandum is 
   
   appropriate. 
   
   Based on this assessment and in light of the signi?cant public interest in the memorandum, the 
   
   President has authorized the declassi?cation of the Memorandum. To be clear, the 
   
   Memorandum re?ects the judgments of its congressional authors. The President understands 
   
   that oversight concerning matters related to the Memorandum may be continuing. Though the 
   
   circumstances leading to the declassi?cation through this process are extraordinary, the 
   
   Executive Branch stands ready to work with Congress to accommodate oversight requests 
   
   consistent with applicable standards and processes, including the need to protect intelligence 
   
   sources and methods. 
   
   Sincerely, 
   
   Donald F. McGahn II 
   
   Counsel to the President 
   
   cc: The Honorable Paul Ryan 
   
   Speaker of the House of Representatives 
   
   The Honorable Adam Schiff 
   
   Ranking Member, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence 
   
   ssnua 
   
   DeclasSi?ed by order of the President 
   
   February 2, 2018 
   
   January 18, 2018 
   
   To: HPSCI Majority Members 
   
   From: HPSCI Majority Staff 
   
   Subject: Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act Abuses at the Department of Justice and the 
   
   Federal Bureau of Investigation 
   
   Purpose 
   
   This memorandum provides Members an update on significant facts relating to the 
   
   Committee?s ongoing investigation into the Department of Justice (DOJ) and Federal Bureau of 
   
   Investigation (FBI) and their use of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (F ISA) during the 
   
   2016 presidential election cycle. Our ?ndings, which are detailed below, 1) raise concerns with 
   
   the legitimacy and legality of certain DOJ and FBI interactions with the Foreign Intelligence 
   
   Surveillance Court (FISC), and 2) represent a troubling breakdown of legal processes established 
   
   to protect the American people from abuses related to the ISA process. 
   
   Investigation Update 
   
   - On October 21, 2016, DOJ and FBI sought and received a ISA probable cause order 
   
   (up; under Title VII) authorizing electronic surveillance on Carter Page from the FISC. Page is a 
   
   US citizen who served as a volunteer advisor to the Trump presidential campaign. Consistent . 
   
   with requirements under FISA, the application had to be ?rst certi?ed by the Director or Deputy 
   
   Director of the FBI. It then required the approval of the Attorney General, Deputy Attorney 
   
   General (DAG), or the Senate?con?rmed Assistant Attorney General for the National Security 
   
   Division. 
   
   The FBI and DOJ obtained one initial FISA warrant targeting Carter Page and three FISA 
   
   renewals from the FISC. As required by statute (50 U.S.C. a FISA order on an 
   
   American citizen must be renewed by the ISC every 90 days and each renewal requires a 
   
   separate finding of probable cause. Then-Director James Comey signed three FISA applications 
   
   . in question on behalf of the FBI, and Deputy Director Andrew McCabe signed one. 
   
   Sally Yates, then-Acting DAG Dana Boente, and DAG Rod Rosenstein each signed one or more 
   
   FISA applications on behalf of 
   
   Due to the sensitive nature of foreign intelligence activity, FISA submissions (including 
   
   renewals) before the ISC are classified. As such, the public?s con?dence in the integrity of the 
   
   FISA process depends on the court?s ability to hold the government to the highest standard?? 
   
   particularly as it relates to surveillance of American citizens. However, the rigor in 
   
   protecting the rights of Americans, which is reinforced by 90?day renewals of surveillance 
   
   orders, is necessarily dependent on the government?s production to the court of all material and 
   
   relevant facts. This should include information potentially favorable to the target of the FISA 
   
   PROPERTY OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
   
   TGIF-SEW 
   
   application that is known by the government. In the case of Carter Page, the government had at 
   
   least four independent opportunities before the FISC to accurately provide an accounting of the 
   
   relevant facts. However, our ?ndings indicate that, as described below, material and relevant 
   
   information was omitted. 
   
   1) 
   
   2) 
   
   The ?dossier?- compiled by Christopher Steele (Steele dossier) on behalf of the 
   
   Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Hillary Clinton campaign formed an 
   
   essential part of the Carter Page FISA application. Steele was a longtime FBI source who 
   
   was paid over $160,000 by the DNC and Clinton campaign, via the law ?rm Perkins Coie 
   
   and research ?rm Fusion GPS, to obtain derogatory information on Donald Trump?s ties 
   
   to Russia. 
   
   a) Neither the initial application in October 2016, nor any of the renewals, disclose or 
   
   reference the role of the DNC, Clinton campaign, or. any party/campaign in funding 
   
   Steele?s efforts, even though the political origins of the Steele dossier were then 
   
   known to senior and FBI of?cials. 
   
   b) The initial FISA application notes Steele was working for a named US. person, but 
   
   does not name Fusion GPS and principal Glenn Simpson, who was paid by a US. law 
   
   ?rm (Perkins Coie) representing the DNC (even though it was known by DOI at the, 
   
   time that political actors were involved with the Steele dossier). The application does 
   
   not mention Steele was ultimately working on behalf of?and paid by?wthe DNC and 
   
   Clinton campaign, or that the FBI had separately authorized payment to Steele for the 
   
   same information. 
   
   The Carter Page FISA application also cited extensively a September 23, 2016, Yahoo 
   
   News article by- Michael Isikoff, which focuses on Page?s July 2016 trip to Moscow. 
   
   - This article does not corroborate the Steele dossier because it is derived from information 
   
   leaked by Steele himself to Yahoo News. The Page FISA application incorrectly assesses 
   
   that Steele did not directly provide information to Yahoo News. Steele has admitted in 
   
   British court ?lings that he met with Yahoo Newly?and several other. outlets?in 
   
   September 2016 at the direction of Fusion GPS. Perkins Coie was aware of Steele?s 
   
   initial media contacts because they hosted at least one meeting in Washington DC. in 
   
   2016 with Steele and Fusion GPS where this matter was discussed." 
   
   a) Steele was suspended and then terminated as an FBI source for what the FBI de?nes 
   
   as the most serious of violations?an unauthorized disclosure to the media of his 
   
   relationship with the FBI in an October 30, 2016, Mother Jones article by David 
   
   Corn Steele should have been terminated for his previous undisclosed contacts with 
   
   Yahoo and other outlets' 1n September?before the Page application was submitted to 
   
   PROPERTY OF THE US. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
   
   3) 
   
   4) 
   
   the FISC in October-but Steele improperly concealed from and lied to the FBI about 
   
   those contacts. 
   
   b) Steele?s numerous encounters with the media violated the cardinal rule of source 
   
   handling?maintaining con?dentiality?and demonstrated that Steele had become a 
   
   less than reliable source for the FBI. 
   
   Before and after Steele was terminated as a source, he maintained contact with DOJ via 
   
   then-Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce 0hr, a senior DOJ of?cial who worked 
   
   closely with Deputy Attorneys General Yates and later Rosenstein. Shortly after the 
   
   election, the FBI began interviewing 0hr, documenting his communications with Steele. 
   
   For example, in September 2016, Steele admitted to 0hr his feelings against then- 
   
   candidate Trump when Steele said he ?was desperate that Donald Trump not get 
   
   elected and was passionate about him not, being president.? This clear evidence of . 
   
   Steele? bias was recorded by Ohr at the time and subsequently in of?cial FBI ?les?but 
   
   not re?ected in any of the Page FISA applications. 
   
   a) During this same time period, Ohr?s wife was employed by Fusion GPS to assist in 
   
   the cultivation of opposition research on Trump. Ohr later provided the FBI with all 
   
   of his wife?s opposition research, paid for by the DNC and Clinton campaign via 
   
   Fusion GPS. The Ohrs? relationship with Steele and Fusion GPS was inexplicably 
   
   concealed from the FISC. . 
   
   According to the head of the counterintelligence division, Assistant Director Bill 
   
   Priestap, corroboration of the Steele dossier was in its ?infancy? at the time of the initial 
   
   Page FISA application. After Steele was terminated, a source validation report conducted 
   
   by an independent unit within FBI assessed Steele?s reporting as only minimally 
   
   corroborated. Yet, in early January 2017, Director Comey briefed President-elect Trump 
   
   on a summary of the Steele dossier, even though it was??according to his June 2017 
   
   and unveri?ed.? While the FISA application relied on Steele?s 
   
   past record of credible reporting on other unrelated matters, it ignored or concealed his 
   
   anti?Trump ?nancial and ideological motivations. Furthermore, Deputy Director 
   
   McCabe testi?ed before the Committee in December 2017 that no surveillance warrant 
   
   would have been sought from the FISC without the Steele dossier information. 
   
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   PROPERTY OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
   
   5) The Page FISA application also mentions information regarding fellow Trump campaign 
   
   advisor George Papadopoulos, but there is no evidence of any cooperation or conspiracy 
   
   between Page and Papadopoulos. The Papadopoulos information triggered the opening 
   
   of an FBI counterintelligence investigation in late July 2016 by FBI agent Pete Strzok. 
   
   Strzok was reassigned by the Special Counsel?s Office to FBI Human Resources for 
   
   improper text messages with his mistress, FBI Attorney Lisa Page (no known relation to 
   
   Carter Page), where they both demonstrated a clear bias against Trump and in favor of 
   
   Clinton, Whom Strzok had also investigated. The Strzok/Lisa Page texts also re?ect 
   
   extensive discussions about the investigation, orchestrating leaks to the media, and 
   
   include a meeting with Deputy Director McCabe to discuss an ?insurance? policy against 
   
   President Trump?s election. 
   
   I 
   
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target: – The White House on Friday declassified a partisan and bitterly disputed memo on the Russia investigation, and a House committee immediately made it public. Media outlets were just beginning to assess it. You can read the document here, via the Washington Post. The White House move came over the fierce objections of the FBI and Justice Department, which have said the document prepared by Republicans on the House intelligence committee is inaccurate and missing critical context, per the AP. The memo alleges that the FBI abused US government surveillance powers in its investigation into Russian election interference. Trump, who has called the investigation a "witch hunt," has supported the release of the memo in the apparent hopes that it could help undermine the probe being led by special counsel Robert Mueller. The president, dogged by the unrelenting investigation into his campaign's ties to Russia, lashed out anew Friday at the FBI and Justice Department as politically biased against Republicans. "The top Leadership and Investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans - something which would have been unthinkable just a short time ago. Rank & File are great people!" Trump tweeted.