House
Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin
Nunes.
J. Scott
Applewhite/AP
In what was perhaps the most momentous week in the Russia
investigation so far, headlines were dominated by the release of
a highly controversial memo by Republicans on the House
Intelligence Committee. The document's central claim is that the
Department of Justice and FBI bypassed proper protocol when they
sought a warrant to surveil Carter Page, a former adviser to
President Donald Trump's campaign.
Earlier in the week, FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe announced
that he was leaving the bureau, and Trump's former legal
spokesman geared up to implicate a key member of Trump's inner
circle in the special counsel Robert Mueller's Russia
investigation.
Meanwhile, the heads of three of Russia's top spy agencies — two
of whom are sanctioned — traveled to the US last week, just days
before the Trump administration declined to enforce sanctions on
Russia as a penalty for meddling in the 2016 presidential
race.
Here's more on what you may have missed:
Memo mayhem: The
release of House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes'
controversial memo took Washington by storm on Friday.
Following days of political wrangling between
Republicans and Democrats on the Hill — and against the advice of top
law enforcement and intelligence
officials — Trump authorized the memo's declassification.
Republicans said the document showed the DOJ and the FBI
overstepped their authority to target a US citizen, while
Democrats and intelligence
officials said it contained a host of inaccuracies that
painted an incomplete and misleading picture.
Nunes comes under fire —
again: Rep. Adam Schiff, Nunes' counterpart on the
House Intelligence Committee, claimed the chairman made
"material changes" to the version of the memo the committee
sent to the White House for review. Meanwhile, Nunes refused to answer questions
about whether he coordinated with the White House while
drafting the memo.
McCabe is out:
Deputy director Andrew McCabe left the bureau on Monday,
reportedly amid a Justice Department investigation into his
handling of the Clinton email investigation. While FBI director
Christopher Wray stressed that McCabe's ouster was not
politically motivated, McCabe's defenders questioned the move
and wondered whether Wray had caved to pressure from Trump and
Attorney General Jeff Sessions, both of whom had either
publicly or privately urged him to
replace McCabe.
Rosenstein and Mueller are in the hot
seat
: Trump, who said the memo
was a "disgrace" to top leadership at the FBI and DOJ, is
expected to use the document to further discredit Mueller's
Russia investigation. Deputy attorney general Rod Rosenstein,
who oversees the investigation, could also be in hot water —
asked Friday whether he
still had confidence in Rosenstein, Trump replied, "You figure
that one out." A White House official later walked back his
comments, however, and said the president had no intention of
firing Rosenstein
.
Mueller homes in on the Trump
Tower Russia meeting: Mueller's team has requested
to interview Mark Corallo, the former spokesman for Trump's
legal team. Mueller is likely to ask Corallo about the events
leading up to his resignation, which took place shortly after
Trump crafted a misleading statement in response to reports
that his son met with a Russian lawyer offering dirt on Clinton
in June 2016, at the height of the campaign.
Hope Hicks draws scrutiny in the
obstruction case: When he interviews with Mueller,
Corallo reportedly plans to tell the special counsel that White
House communications director Hope Hicks may have hinted at
concealing crucial emails related to the Trump Tower meeting
while on a conference call with him and Trump last
July.
- Trump’s lawyers devise a new
strategy: Trump's lawyers are planning
to argue that Mueller has not met the required standard to
merit a face-to-face interview with the president. The
strategy is one of several options Trump's personal defense
lawyers, John Dowd and Jay Sekulow, are examining as they seek
to limit or avoid an interview with Mueller altogether, but
experts say it's unlikely Mueller will agree to anything other
than a face-to-face sit down with Trump.
US clears three top Russian spy
chiefs to enter the country: Days before the White
House declined to enforce sanctions on Russia, the US allowed
three top Russian intelligence officials — two of whom are
sanctioned — into the country. Two of the officials met with
CIA director Mike Pompeo to discuss counterterrorism, and it's
unclear what the purpose of the third official's visit
was.
Sonam Sheth, Allan Smith, and Bryan Logan contributed to this
report.
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