There has followed the usual gamesmanship that intensifies public cynicism about “the Swamp.” Based on their review of the memo, the FBI and committee Democrats sought some changes. Though committee Republicans did not agree that these edits were necessary, they nevertheless agreed to make them. Democrats promptly used this accommodation — which they and the FBI had requested — to argue that publication should now be withheld because the memo has been “materially” and “substantively” altered since the committee votes. Nunes counters that the edits are minor and include mere grammatical fixes. Given that the people who are complaining about the changes are the ones who insisted on them, the chairman rejects what he calls an “increasingly strange attempt to thwart publication of the memo.”

Positioning over Nunes FISA Memo continues in advance of its release - my @NRO column: https://t.co/SLKQcSjLt5

— Andrew C. McCarthy (@AndrewCMcCarthy) February 1, 2018