After being declassified by President Donald Trump earlier in the day, Republicans in the House of Representatives—led by Speaker of the House Paul Ryan and Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), chair of the Intelligence Committee—followed through with their promise to release a highly controversial memo on Friday.
As a result, Democrats and progressive reacted in a wave of condemnation as they placed the document in historic, political, and legal context.
Here, officially in the public domain, is the 4-page memo (pdf)—a document that Democrats have called "cherry-picked" and "highly misleading" and which the FBI warned was "fundamentally" inaccurate due to "material omissions of fact."
While giving no quarter to the Republicans, but acknowledging the need to be both skeptical and critical of the FBI and intelligence agencies, investigative journalist Jeremy Scahill reacted this way:
Washington: In one corner, we have despicable partisan rats putting out a skewed propaganda document. On the other, we have political elites fighting to keep their kingdom of secrecy that allows all manner of abuses.
— jeremy scahill (@jeremyscahill) February 2, 2018
The memo doesn't come close to saying what Hannity and company want it to say. It clearly is cherry-picked. It is also laughable, as the Democrats and FBI allege, that this "memo" harms national security. What a shit show of dishonesty across the board.
— jeremy scahill (@jeremyscahill) February 2, 2018
While Republicans quickly leaked excerpts and details of the memo to right-wing media outlets—including Fox News, the Washington Examiner, and the Daily Caller—other Democrats, progressives, and independent-minded observers wasted no time in shredding the contents of the memo itself and the political brinksmanship by the GOP which led to its creation and release.
Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, led by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), published a detailed takedown of memo released today, which they said "fails to provide vital context and information contained in DOJ's FISA application and renewals [regarding surveillance of Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page], and ignores why and how the FBI initiated, and the Special Counsel has continued, its counterintelligence investigation into Russia's election interference and links to the Trump campaign."
Shortly before it was released, Trump told reporters that the memo—which he personally declassified so Republicans in the House could release it—represents a "disgrace [of] what's going on in this country." The president added that "alot of people should be ashamed of themselves, and worse than that." Watch:
WATCH: President Trump says memo is 'terrible'
"You want to know the truth, I think it's a disgrace ... A lot of people should be ashamed of themselves" pic.twitter.com/fIcMTl7izA
— MSNBC (@MSNBC) February 2, 2018
On Twitter, however, critics unleashed their ire at Republicans—including Trump, Ryan, and Nunes—while offering an array of informed context regarding the memo:
