If you’re looking for good taste, forget it. This blog is not for the faint of heart: others offer you candy pills; Literature R Us supplies the real dope,1
The memo issued by House Intelligence Committee Chair Devin Nunes attacks the Department of Justice and the FBI for obtaining a warrant under the Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) for the purpose of surveilling former Trump campaign official Carter Page almost entirely on the grounds that the DOJ and the FBI used as their justification information obtained from the now famous “dossier” compiled on Trump by former British intelligence officer Christopher Steele, using the information without telling the FISA court that the dossier was financed (indirectly) by Hillary Clinton’s presidential election campaign, manipulating the court into using as evidence a political hitpiece.
First of all, we’ve since learned, to on one’s surprise, that Rep. Nunes didn’t quite dot his i’s and cross his t’s on this one. In fact, the FISA court was aware that the dossier had been compiled in the course of a political campaign. Well, the fact that Nunes had to lie to make his point—I guess telling the truth wasn’t an option here—weakens his case pretty dramatically, but even more to the point, in my mind, at least, is that when you do research on your opponent, the idea is to find embarrassing facts, not embarrassing fantasies. What’s the point of dropping “bombshells* on your opponent when they turn out to be false?
Nunes also complains that the Steele dossier was “salacious”, as though evidence is not supposed be that. And, again more to the point, we’re talking about Donald “Mr. Salacity”2 Trump here. This is a guy who’s spent his entire adult life bragging about the ferocity of his sexual appetite, the vast number of beautiful babes he’s bagged, how much fun he had cheating on his first wife, the prerogatives of fame (“Just grab”), and who, more recently ran any number of beauty pageants. Hey, a fat old guy who brags about his endless lechery surrounding himself with dozens of beautiful young women anxious for “fame”. What could go wrong? Rep. Nunes, how could you write a “dossier” about Donald Trump that wasn’t “salacious”?
Easily the most satisfying of the many beatdowns Rep. Nunes has picked up in a just a few short days is administered by David French over at the National Review. One gets the strong impression that French wanted to be impressed by the memo, but instead finds himself stunned at just how bad it is. “I could elaborate more on all these points [as to why the memo is a total crock], but after reading the memorandum, I’m struck by the fact that I literally cannot objectively discern whether there’s a scandal here.” You know why, Dave? Because there isn’t one.
Afterwords
Not a few people have pointed out that the FBI often does get it wrong, and on purpose, most spectacularly in the “War against Terror”. Any FBI agent who can polish a badge knows that the way you make it to the top is by busting terrorists, even if you have to make them up yourself. Throwing innocent people in jail, often for 20 years at a pop, so that you can earn a promotion is beyond disgraceful. But an FBI that conducts its investigations at the convenience of whatever political party happens to hold a majority is even worse. And that’s exactly where Donald Trump and the Republican Party want to take us.
