If it's printed on a real sheet of paper, it must then be official. I see people on television with it in their hands. They point to paragraphs and specific words.
Regardless of the contents of the memo, which you can read by clicking below, the end result is that despite it being a dud in its explosiveness it accomplished its minimum goal, which was to add something else in the mix to further muddy and attempt to discredit the Mueller investigation.
Now that it's out, members of both parties are unhappy with the result. Congressman Devin Nunes (R-CA) once again proved his loyalty over reason in his defense of the president. Not only has he further whittled away at the reputation and our trust of the FBI and the Department of Justice, but of his own House committee of intelligence, a critical area that needs to remain nonpartisan. Yet now, we have to await a Democratic response memo to Mr. Nunes's memo. As the panel marveled, it's astounding how the party of supposed law and order is attacking the FBI and the Democratic party is the one coming to its defense. Pointing out problems in a institution and still having faith in it do not have to be mutually exclusive notions. However, for Mr. Trump unfounded conspiracy theories fuel unhinged paranoia.
The entire #releasethememo Twitter hype rally was just that. That people out there in the ether would by into such things is one thing, but for politicians to be influenced by Twitter trivia is another. This is akin to Senator Ron Johnson seeing the words 'secret society' in a text message and then actually believing there is one.
Or defensiveness due to the reality he's facing... There's something to the notion that a wounded animal backed into a corner is at its most dangerous. Because it's in its most desperate state. That's where Mr. Trump is with the Russia investigation and though this memo throws out another morsel to chew on, it's not enough to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein or Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Getting back to Mr. Nunes, we know he's a partisan sycophant of the president - not a very shrewd one - so the release of a memo that even White House Counsel Don McGahn called a political opinion piece. Congress Trey Gowdy (R-SC) who had a significant role in crafting the memo said the memo in no way diminishes his faith in the Mueller investigation. Former Director of the CIA, John Brennan, said in his interview that he's never seen anything this extremely partisan like from what's coming from the House Intelligence Committee now, and that is showed a lack of moral and ethically leadership. Still, we've come to expect as much from Mr. Nunes.
When Chuck Todd asked the Cook Political Report's Amy Walter what she made of all this, I think she summed it up best with, "I'm confused."
What was to be a smoking memo turned out to be four pieces of paper on dry ice.
But the motivations and responsible individuals come into more focus when you think of things in the following terms. These shenanigans and the outward spiraling of chaos they cause rests at the feet of Speaker of the House, Paul Ryan (R-WI), plain and simple. No matter what twists and turns and turmoil the president causes or is caused by the Russian investigation, Mr. Ryan is going to keep moving his agenda forward while at least some people are distracted. If he wanted all this to stop, he could do it at any time by removing Mr. Nunes chairmanship. But he doesn't, and nor will he.
In fmr. White House Chief of Staff, Reince "I felt" Priebus's interview, he gave the simple explanation as to why. Since Mr. Ryan was twenty-one years old, he's been trying enact these kinds of policies and deregulation in line with his Ayn Rand philosophical inclinations. It's Mr. Ryan's ideological agenda is his motivation and for him, Russia and Nunes and memos and tweets all provide a smokescreen for things like the tax bill. Surely, if the president wouldn't keep sabotaging Republican policy efforts along the way, there would be more.
With that said, enough is enough and Mr. Ryan should remove Mr. Nunes from the chairmanship of the committee. From the House Intelligence Committee, there should only be one statement agreed upon by the members of both parties, but under Mr. Nunes that will never happen. He's gone so far that there's no possibility of ever coming back to a compromising position. In other words, the current state of the American politic writ large.
Panel: Yamiche Alcindor, PBS News Hour; Amy Walter, Cook Political Report; Eugene Robinson, The Washington Post; Hugh Hewitt, Salem Radio Network
One more thing...
I won't get into the the entire discussion of the NFL's rating and the problems with the game, of which there are many. The future of the game will be what it will be, but right now, it's pretty widely celebrated, which is good too. It's a good thing that Mr. Trump isn't doing the Super Sunday presidential interview. Football was something that always brought Americans together until Mr. Trump came along so it's good that my stomach won't be upset by an interview while I'm upsetting my stomach with too much food.
What was interesting about the Bryant Gumbel interview was that it was a true 'meet the press' moment as all members of the panel asked the guest a questions. That along with two in-studio interviews... Make someone is listening... or reading as it were.
Have great fun today on Super Bowl Sunday.... Go E-A-G-L-E-S, Eagles!
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