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Rep. Waters Statement on the Release of One-Sided Republican Intelligence Committee Memo

February 3, 2018

Rep. Waters Statement on the Release of One-Sided Republican Intelligence Committee Memo

WASHINGTONCongresswoman Maxine Waters (CA-43), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Committee, released the following statement after a memo prepared by the staff of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes was released, with the consent of the President Donald Trump, over the objection of the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI):

"Donald Trump, Devin Nunes, and congressional Republicans have reached a new and pathetic level of desperation in their efforts to distract from, and discredit, the Justice Department's Russia investigation. For this president and Republican Members of Congress to deliberately defy protocols, process, and norms to selectively use highly classified information to mislead the American public is beyond irresponsible.

"The Nunes memo cherry picks the details of how the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) established probable cause to conduct surveillance of Donald Trump's campaign advisor, Carter Page, without offering the American people the full story. It implausibly suggests that the dossier prepared by Christopher Steele was the essential support for establishing probable cause against Page, and it fails to acknowledge that Carter Page has been of interest to the FBI for his contact with Russian spies since 2013.[1] This is a play right out of Vladimir Putin's propaganda playbook for distorting public opinion and hiding the truth. Furthermore, it only begs the question: what are Donald Trump and his Republican allies so afraid of being revealed that they would make such a reckless and foolishly transparent attempt to distort the facts and undermine a federal investigation?

"Abusing the Constitutional authority granted to the executive and legislative branches for personal and political gain is reprehensible. I stand with my colleagues who are calling for the immediate removal of Devin Nunes from the chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee.

"As we continue to see more reports in the media that Special Counsel Robert S. Mueller III is getting closer to uncovering evidence of collusion and obstruction of justice, I remain confident that in the end, justice will prevail and this president will be impeached."