WH: Trump has “directed the Department of Justice (including the FBI) to publicly release all text messages relating to the Russia investigation, without redaction, of James Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page, and Bruce Ohr.” pic.twitter.com/IdVYLvceYK
— Jim Acosta (@Acosta) September 17, 2018
The President has ordered a selective declassification of a very limited amount of information related to one of the FISA warrant applications pertaining to Carter Page, as well as text messages intended to make Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, and Ohr look bad.
The president has claimed the Carter Page FISA surveillance was an effort by the FBI to spy on his campaign. But he hasn't declassified one section of the order that would be critical to understanding that: the minimization procedures, which spell out what FBI couldn't intercept.
— Brad Heath (@bradheath) September 17, 2018
It goes only to the most recent surveillance application. And only parts of it. So, for example, the president has ordered that the government fill in these blanks -> pic.twitter.com/WgGLlGml9c
— Brad Heath (@bradheath) September 17, 2018
My professional take on this is that this declassification order is part of a preplanned strategic communication strategy to try to get the news media off of reporting that is not positive for the President, his administration, the GOP majority in both chambers of Congress, the Kavanaugh nomination, and the upcoming midterms. Apparently the Man from Lajes, also known as Congressman Devin Nunes, agrees.
In this Sept 13 speech, Nunes said the declassification Trumo ordered tonight was necessary so Republicans can campaign on the issue of Democrats 'corrupting" the DoJ and FBI. https://t.co/shk9e5lpxd
— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) September 17, 2018
Rep. Devin Nunes, who chairs the intelligence committee, says the Democrats have “corrupted” the Justice Dept. and FBI. https://t.co/0mxmyugoPM via @YouTube
— Ken Dilanian (@KenDilanianNBC) September 17, 2018
Here’s Congressman Schiff’s, the ranking member on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, statement on what the President ordered:
Schiff calls Trump's declassification move a "clear abuse of power," says: "I have been previously informed by the FBI and Justice Department that they would consider their release a red line that must not be crossed as they may compromise sources and methods."
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) September 17, 2018
What’s interesting is that the DOJ and FBI doesn’t seem to have any idea how to proceed.
Holy cow
“Neither DOJ nor the FBI has any idea how the redaction process for this announcement is being handled, and they think it’s possible that the White House is just doing it on its own and could release this material as early as Monday night…” https://t.co/zW6N1s7pme
— Ryan Goodman (@rgoodlaw) September 17, 2018
David Kris, the former Assistant Attorney General for National Security, had this to say:
The release of FISAs like this is off the charts. It is especially unprecedented considering that the FISAs have already gone through declassification review and the President is overruling the judgments of his subordinates to require expanded disclosure. 1/3
— David Kris (@DavidKris) September 17, 2018
This is perhaps the signal feature of many of his worst actions — he seems assiduously to view and engage with everything through the straw-sized aperture of his own self-interest instead of the broader national interest. 3/3
— David Kris (@DavidKris) September 17, 2018
Also, from Joyce Vance, a former US Attorney, and Julie Zebrak, formerly of both the Department of Justice and the Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Office.
Ohr’s work for the last few years of the Obama Admin was heavily focused on cartels & drug trafficking, including heroin & opioids. Any disclosure of sources & methods will be deeply damaging. Again, Trump is willing to sacrifice the national interest to try to protect himself. https://t.co/H0CaxpeIlQ
— Joyce Alene (@JoyceWhiteVance) September 11, 2018
Here’s what I think is going to happen: the selectively unclassified and unredacted material will be released. Like every previous one of these attempts by either the President and/or his allies like Congressman Nunes, it will quickly be picked apart and make them look silly. Even more important, as was the case a couple of weeks ago regarding what Bruce Ohr’s actual work for the DOJ was about, the US intelligence community will selectively leak in order to knock this selective declassification back. And at the end of the day all that will have happened is the President and his allies in Congress like Congressman Nunes will have simply further damaged and weakened the Department of Justice, the FBI, and other parts of the intelligence community in order to protect their own political and/or legal fortunes.
This is a blatant and obvious attempt to try to change the news reporting, but I just don’t think it is going to work. Especially given the track records of the people involved. The Fox News and MAGA on social media crowd will embrace it, Russian bots and trolls will try to amplify it, but there is too much legitimate news breaking right now for this to really break through. The news for the rest of this week is going to be the Kavanaugh nomination meshugas, the trade war, including new competing tariffs, with China, violent, serial criminal activity by Customs and Border Patrol and ICE officers, and the ongoing news regarding the coming mid-term elections.
You said too much. Activate your exfiltration plan. https://t.co/0zjJkVpvjp
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) September 17, 2018
Stay focused!
Three separate conversations with various FL elder statesmen in the GOP world.
Mood on statewides is…grim.
— Rick Wilson (@TheRickWilson) September 18, 2018
If this is what the senior Florida Republicans think is coming, then no amount of chaff is going to distract the news media from the actual targets!
Open thread.