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UP FRONT Saturday 3 February 2018

Trump

Continued from Front have been unthinkable just
a short time ago. Rank &
Asked if he was more likely File are great people.”
to fire Rosenstein, and if he The memo offered the first
still had confidence in him, government confirmation
Trump retorted. “You figure that the FBI in October
that one out.” 2016 obtained a secret
Trump has been telling surveillance warrant on a
confidants he believed the Trump campaign associ-
memo would validate his ate, Carter Page, on the
concerns that the FBI and basis that agents believed
Justice Department con- he might be an agent of
spired against him. Though a foreign power —Russia.
the document had been That warrant was signed off
classified since it deals with on multiple times, including
warrants obtained from the by Rosenstein.
Foreign Intelligence Sur- In a statement, Page, who
veillance Court, the White served as a foreign policy
House declassified it Friday adviser and came on the
and sent it to the intelli- FBI radar in 2013 as part of
gence committee chair- a separate counterintel-
man, Republican Rep. ligence probe, said, “The
Devin Nunes, for immedi- brave and assiduous over-
ate release. sight by Congressional President Donald Trump speaks during a meeting with North Korean defectors where he talked
The development also leaders in discovering this with reporters about allowing the release of a secret memo on the FBI’s role in the Russia inquiry,
comes amid an ongoing unprecedented abuse of in the Oval Office of the White House, Friday, Feb. 2, 2018, in Washington.
effort by Trump and con- process represents a giant, Associated Press
gressional Republicans to historic leap in the repair of
discredit the investigation America’s democracy.”
by Mueller that focuses The memo asserts that
not only on whether the opposition research con-
Trump campaign coordi- ducted by a former Brit-
nated with Russia but also ish spy, Christopher Steele,
on whether the president “formed an essential part”
sought to obstruct justice. of the initial application
Republicans seized on the to receive the warrant.
memo’s allegations to ar- It’s unclear how much or
gue that the FBI’s investiga- what information Steele
tion was politically tainted collected was included
from the start. in the application, or how
But the memo does noth- much has been corrobo-
ing to address obstruction rated. Steele’s research
questions that have led into Trump and Russia was
Mueller to express interest compiled into a series of
in interviewing Trump. It also memos, or dossier, contain-
reveals the FBI investigation ing salacious allegations.
actually began in July 2016, Regardless, the FBI routine-
months before the warrant ly relies on multiple sources
was even sought, based of information when it ob-
on information involving tains surveillance warrants.
a separate Trump aide, And the memo makes
George Papadopoulos, clear that the FBI believed
who has already pleaded there was probable cause
guilty to federal charges. that Page was acting as an
Mueller inherited the probe agent of a foreign power
in May of 2017. Four people and a judge agreed — four
have so far been charged times over.
in his investigation. Trump Steele’s opposition re-
said Friday of the informa- search effort was initially
tion in the memo: “I think funded by the conservative
it’s a disgrace. What’s go- Washington Free Beacon. It
ing on in this country, I think was later picked up by the
it’s a disgrace.” Hillary Clinton presidential
Earlier in the day, he tweet- campaign and the Demo-
ed, “The top Leadership cratic National Committee
and Investigators of the through a Washington law
FBI and the Justice Depart- firm. The memo says the
ment have politicized the FBI cut ties with Steele, a
sacred investigative pro- longtime FBI source, for an
cess in favor of Democrats improper disclosure to the
and against Republicans media over his relationship
- something which would with the bureau.q