Nunes Memo Written Off as a Flop, Then Partly Borne Out by the IG
Coverage of the Nunes memo largely cast it as a misleading dud that failed to show problems with the FBI's Carter Page surveillance, while the Democratic rebuttal memo said the FBI had not omitted material facts.
Writing off the memo protected the FBI's handling of the Trump-Russia investigation from scrutiny.
What was reported
Coverage of the Nunes memo largely cast it as a misleading dud that failed to show problems with the FBI's Carter Page surveillance, while the Democratic rebuttal memo said the FBI had not omitted material facts.
What actually happened
The DOJ Inspector General's December 2019 report found 17 significant errors or omissions in the Page FISA applications and called the Steele dossier central and essential to seeking the warrant, backing several of the memo's factual points and undercutting the Democratic rebuttal. The Washington Post's Aaron Blake wrote that the memo was closer to the truth than most had credited. But the IG also found no evidence that political bias drove the opening of the investigation, and Lawfare noted the memo was wrong on some points, so its larger conspiracy thesis was not borne out.
The proof
The DOJ OIG's Dec. 9, 2019 FISA report (17 significant errors or omissions; dossier central and essential).
The receipt. Copy this and paste it anywhere:
Nunes Memo Written Off as a Flop, Then Partly Borne Out by the IG — Bad Call. The DOJ OIG's Dec. 9, 2019 FISA report (17 significant errors or omissions; dossier central and essential). Full file: https://www.thepropagandafiles.com/case/nunes-memo-dismissed-ig-report/
Original reporting
- Snopes: the Nunes memo drops, flops (Feb. 2018)https://www.snopes.com/2018/02/02/nunes-memo-drops-flops/
- Washington Post: the full Nunes memo, annotatedhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/02/02/the-full-nunes-memo-annotated/
- Vox: Nunes memo explainerhttps://www.vox.com/2018/2/1/16955472/nunes-memo-release-diagram
Corrections, findings & records
- DOJ OIG: Review of Four FISA Applications (Dec. 2019)https://oig.justice.gov/reports/2019/o20012.pdf
- Washington Post (Aaron Blake): the vindication of the Nunes memo, sort ofhttps://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2019/12/13/vindication-nunes-memo/
- Lawfare: Revisiting the Nunes memohttps://www.lawfaremedia.org/article/about-presidential-medal-freedom-revisiting-nunes-memo
Archived copies
Stories get edited after publication. These open the Internet Archive's earliest saved copy of each original.
- Archived copy: Snopes: the Nunes memo drops, flops (Feb. 2018)https://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.snopes.com/2018/02/02/nunes-memo-drops-flops/
- Archived copy: Washington Post: the full Nunes memo, annotatedhttps://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-fix/wp/2018/02/02/the-full-nunes-memo-annotated/
- Archived copy: Vox: Nunes memo explainerhttps://web.archive.org/web/2/https://www.vox.com/2018/2/1/16955472/nunes-memo-release-diagram