Reflecting on the Nunes Memo
In order to fully comprehend the Nunes memo, you need to understand the claims and the context.
Politicians on all sides of the political spectrum can agree that the FBI investigators applied for a warrant to wiretap Carter Page, a former Trump advisor. A FISA judge approved this and the FBI investigated Carter Page.
What comes next is a string of unproven conspiracy theories. Republicans claim that the majority of the evidence which prompted the want for a warrant was information from the Steele dossier, funded by the DNC and the Clinton campaign. Thus, they are trying to make the argument that there was no reason to wiretap him. Second, Republicans are claiming that Rod Rosenstein, the deputy attorney general, approved the warrant request. They assert this is important as Rosenstein is attempting to make Trump look bad by using evidence from the DNC and Clinton. By making Rosenstein look as if he had a bias that he was acting on, they can try to get rid of him with a pro-Trump deputy attorney general. Replacing him would make a large impact, as Rosenstein currently oversees the Mueller investigation. Overall, this entire theory is essentially to make the Russian investigation seem like it is partisan slandering, run by the deep state. The Nunes memo supposedly had proof for these claims.
Devin Nunes, Republican member of the House Intelligence Committee, has a long history of helping Trump. He was previously told to recuse himself from the Russian investigation after spreading more false claims while the media was discussing Obama wiretap theory and proving himself to be too close to the Trump administration. A year later, he was claiming that he had proof that Rosenstein, the Clinton campaign and the DNC worked together to falsify information to indict Carter Page and that it was all written in this mystical memo. As Breitbart news reporters wrote crazy headlines about it, Republicans claimed it proved everything Nunes claimed; everyone wanted to see what Nunes found.
It essentially revealed nothing. The lead up to the memo had a very half-truth style. The whole situation is childish in the way that during your childhood, you might often say something that is basically the truth, just not the part that disproves all of your claims. Like, “I didn’t eat three slices of cake in Grannie’s house.” No, you didn’t eat three slices of cake in Grannie’s house. You ate two in the house and one on the porch.
The Republicans similarly attempted to claim that Carter Page was only investigated because of the Steele dossier. Carter Page was actually investigated mostly because he gave two speeches, one in Moscow, claiming that the US wasn’t treating Russia properly, but with President Trump, they would. He had also previously held a meeting with a Russian intelligence operative. Yes, the Steele dossier was used as information, like the Republicans claimed. But the main source was George Papadopoulos, a former Trump adviser who pleaded guilty after drunkenly talking about his work with Russia on a night out with an Australian intelligence official.
Releasing the Nunes memo was absolutely foolish. It revealed the lack of evidence behind their claims. It contained proof against them. It exposed FBI methods. It made the Republicans look like imbeciles. In the end, Rosenstein is not only still around, but he now also has the full support of Democrats on the hill.
Even myself, an avid reader of political news, did not understand what was happening with this memo. I knew people were angry, but it was all just so strange and confusing. Before writing this article, I asked around to see what opinions other Exonians had regarding the memo, and even some of the most politically informed students I knew had no idea what was happening. It was only after an hour of research that I had the slightest idea of the controversy behind this memo.
To be quite honest, I am still a bit confused. However, what I have taken the most out of this is the confusion.
If you are a lower middle class conservative, you aren’t going to spend your time understanding what is happening with the Nunes memo. You are going to be heading to work, taking care of your family. You are going to quickly read the Breitbart article, “16 Bombshells in the Nunes Memo the Media Does Not Want You To Know About,” read the numbered list, look up at your spouse complaining about “the damn Nixonian media,” reaffirm your support for Trump and move on.
And if you are a lower-middle class liberal, you aren’t going to have the time to understand the ridiculousness of it all. You are going to be confused, see the people on MSNBC ranting about it, tweet a witty reply and move on because you don't really understand what is happening.
In both situations, the Republicans aren’t losing anything. The nation is already divided and they just want to retain their supporters. They were fools, they helped their opponents and they exposed proof against them the press. But the Republicans were able to make it all so confusing that, in the end, maybe they lost a few independents, but for the most part they faced no consequences. That is what I find truly astonishing.