The White House reportedly worries the Nunes memo is 'underwhelming'
President Trump is reportedly ready to defy recommendations from his own Justice Department, as well as the FBI director he appointed, in order to release a controversial Republican memo. But apparently not everyone in the White House is sold.
The hotly contested memo, authored by Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), reportedly alleges the FBI inappropriately spied on President Trump's campaign in 2016. Trump reportedly believes that releasing the document publicly could help to undermine Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation of Russian meddling in the 2016 election, including potential collusion between Trump's team and Russia, which Trump has deemed a "witch hunt." But some staff in the White House believe the document is "underwhelming," Axios reported Thursday.
"There's internal anxiety about whether it's worth angering the FBI director and intelligence community by releasing this information," Axios explained. The Justice Department and the FBI have claimed the memo draws on incomplete information. Axios reported that some White House officials who've been apprised of its contents don't think the document enough of a "slam dunk" to justify its release.
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.
Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, which Nunes chairs, voted Monday to release the memo. The White House has the final say over what will be made public, and Trump is reportedly in favor of releasing it. A White House official predicted Thursday that the memo would probably be released, but possibly with some redactions to appease the Justice Department.
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.
-
Metaverse: Zuckerberg quits his virtual obsessionFeature The tech mogul’s vision for virtual worlds inhabited by millions of users was clearly a flop
-
Frank Gehry: the architect who made buildings flow like waterFeature The revered building master died at the age of 96
-
Is MAGA melting down?Today's Big Question Candace Owens, Tucker Carlson, Laura Loomer and more are feuding
-
Kushner drops Trump hotel project in SerbiaSpeed Read Affinity Partners pulled out of a deal to finance a Trump-branded development in Belgrade
-
Senate votes down ACA subsidies, GOP alternativeSpeed Read The Senate rejected the extension of Affordable Care Act tax credits, guaranteeing a steep rise in health care costs for millions of Americans
-
Abrego García freed from jail on judge’s orderSpeed Read The wrongfully deported man has been released from an ICE detention center
-
Indiana Senate rejects Trump’s gerrymander pushSpeed Read The proposed gerrymander would have likely flipped the state’s two Democratic-held US House seats
-
Democrat files to impeach RFK Jr.Speed Read Rep. Haley Stevens filed articles of impeachment against Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
-
$1M ‘Trump Gold Card’ goes live amid travel rule furorSpeed Read The new gold card visa offers an expedited path to citizenship in exchange for $1 million
-
US seizes oil tanker off VenezuelaSpeed Read The seizure was a significant escalation in the pressure campaign against Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro
-
Judge orders release of Ghislaine Maxwell recordsSpeed Read The grand jury records from the 2019 prosecution of convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein will be made public
