Trump reportedly 'erupted in anger' after Justice Department warned against releasing Nunes FBI memo


On a flight last week, President Trump was apparently fixated on a familiar grievance: the FBI's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.
Bloomberg Politics reported Monday that Trump was in the air en route to the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, when he was told about the Justice Department's concerns about the possible release of a memo alleging improper FBI surveillance of the Trump campaign during the 2016 election. The president reportedly "exploded in anger" over the DOJ's recommendation that the memo, authored by Republican Rep. Devin Nunes (Calif.), not be released, because he believes the document would "expose what the president sees as the politically motivated agenda behind Special Counsel Robert Mueller's probe," Bloomberg Politics explains.
The DOJ had urged Nunes and other congressional Republicans not to release the memo, saying its publication would be "extraordinarily reckless." Bloomberg Politics reports that Trump has enlisted White House Chief of Staff John Kelly to impart onto DOJ officials "the White House's expectations," adding that "Kelly has taken to ending such conversations with a disclaimer that the White House isn't expecting officials to do anything illegal or unethical."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Read more at Bloomberg Politics.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kelly O'Meara Morales is a staff writer at The Week. He graduated from Sarah Lawrence College and studied Middle Eastern history and nonfiction writing amongst other esoteric subjects. When not compulsively checking Twitter, he writes and records music, subsists on tacos, and watches basketball.
-
The Great Art Fraud: a 'riveting' tale of a disgraced art dealer
The Week Recommends BBC2 documentary explores extraordinary story of 'class-A grifter' charged with fraud
-
The Roses: Olivia Colman and Benedict Cumberbatch star in black comedy reboot
The Week Recommends 'Acidly enjoyable' remake of the 1980s classic features a warring couple and toxic love
-
Why reports of Donald Trump's demise are greatly exaggerated
In The Spotlight US president has once again brushed aside rumours that he's dead
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclub
Speed Read The colorful crosswalk was outside the former LGBTQ nightclub where 49 people were killed in a 2016 shooting
-
Trump says Smithsonian too focused on slavery's ills
Speed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, Stallone
Speed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
-
White House seeks to bend Smithsonian to Trump's view
Speed Read The Smithsonian Institution's 21 museums are under review to ensure their content aligns with the president's interpretation of American history
-
Charlamagne Tha God irks Trump with Epstein talk
Speed Read The radio host said the Jeffrey Epstein scandal could help 'traditional conservatives' take back the Republican Party
-
CBS cancels Colbert's 'Late Show'
Speed Read 'The Late Show with Stephen Colbert' is ending next year
-
Shakespeare not an absent spouse, study proposes
speed read A letter fragment suggests that the Shakespeares lived together all along, says scholar Matthew Steggle
-
New Mexico to investigate death of Gene Hackman, wife
speed read The Oscar-winning actor and his wife Betsy Arakawa were found dead in their home with no signs of foul play