Devin Nunes, Court Jester.
Nunes: The whole world needs to see this scary scary memo I wrote.
Democrats on the Intelligence Committee: Can we see it?
Nunes: No.
Senate Intelligence Committee: Can we see it?
Nunes: No.
FBI: Can we see it?
Nunes: No.
DOJ: If there was wrongdoing at the FBI, the DOJ needs to address it, but we don't know what you're talking about. Can we see the memo?
Nunes: No.
DOJ: It would be "extraordinarily reckless" of you to publicize FBI intelligence and jeopardize many ongoing investigations. Can the DOJ review it to ensure that you won't get any agents killed?
Nunes: No. Only my BFFs can see it.
Fox: Even though we haven't seen the memo, we know it's very very scary and people are going to jail.
Sane people: OK, let's see the basis for the accusations. Quit the drama queen act, declassify the FISA warrant and the backup documentation and release the memo already.
Nunes: But then we can't lie about it and invent wild conspiracies.
Sane people: [eyeroll]
Ostensibly, the scary scary memo "reveals" that the FBI sought a FISA warrant to confirm the alleged activities of Trump foreign adviser Carter Page, mentioned in the Steele dossier as meeting frequently with Russian spies. Page is an incontinent blabbermouth who sought out the media, conducted many interviews, openly admitted he was a Russian asset and found it amusing that anyone was shocked.
To obtain a FISA warrant, a law enforcement agency must present evidence of criminal activity to a FISA judge, who approves the warrant (or not). If approved, the agency may then intercept correspondence or obtain documents to prove their case. A FISA warrant is an investigative tool. It's entirely legitimate to seek one for the purpose of confirming whether raw intelligence from a known, credible source is true or not. Christopher Steele was a known quantity, credible due to his previous MI6 work with the FBI. Seeking a FISA warrant to test the veracity of his raw intel is exactly the right thing to do. Not secret, not illegal.
Devin Nunes is supposed to be recused from any involvement in the Trump-Russia investigation, but he keeps inserting himself into the middle of it, this time with the self-composed "memo" that he keep waving around, but won't share. Showing the memo and the backup documentation would blow the lid off his scam. He's resorted to flailing about and inflaming outrage to change the subject from the Mueller investigation.
Meanwhile, the testimony from Trump associates on the Trump-Russia criminal investigation has reached the cabinet level, and Trump will soon be testifying. Nunes is the court jester hopping around, bells a-jingle, trying desperately to distract attention from the net closing around himself and his co-conspirators. Nunes has plenty to worry about: he was on the Trump transition team and he's got long-time business ties to Russia that include the Trump Organization. He leaked classified information to the targets of an investigation, he's slandered law enforcement officials, he's obstructed the FBI. Because he's the chair of the House Intelligence Committee, he has clearance to see the transcripts of monitored conversations captured by the FBI and NSA between Trump associates and Russian diplomats and spies, and he's in a panic. Dance all you want Devin, we are not amused.
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