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.
-
Gavin Newsom and Dr. Oz feud over fraud allegationsIn the Spotlight Newsom called Oz’s behavior ‘baseless and racist’
-
‘Admin night’: the TikTok trend turning paperwork into a partyThe Explainer Grab your friends and make a night of tackling the most boring tasks
-
Find art, beautiful parks and bright pink soup in VilniusThe Week Recommends The city offers the best of a European capital
-
‘One Battle After Another’ wins Critics Choice honorsSpeed Read Paul Thomas Anderson’s latest film, which stars Leonardo DiCaprio, won best picture at the 31st Critics Choice Awards
-
Son arrested over killing of Rob and Michele ReinerSpeed Read Nick, the 32-year-old son of Hollywood director Rob Reiner, has been booked for the murder of his parents
-
Rob Reiner, wife dead in ‘apparent homicide’speed read The Reiners, found in their Los Angeles home, ‘had injuries consistent with being stabbed’
-
Hungary’s Krasznahorkai wins Nobel for literatureSpeed Read László Krasznahorkai is the author of acclaimed novels like ‘The Melancholy of Resistance’ and ‘Satantango’
-
Primatologist Jane Goodall dies at 91Speed Read She rose to fame following her groundbreaking field research with chimpanzees
-
Florida erases rainbow crosswalk at Pulse nightclubSpeed 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 illsSpeed Read The president would prefer the museum to highlight 'success,' 'brightness' and 'the future'
-
Trump to host Kennedy Honors for Kiss, StalloneSpeed Read Actor Sylvester Stallone and the glam-rock band Kiss were among those named as this year's inductees
