FBI (mis)conduct and Mueller's investigation: Kennedy
It's raining memos! The first Nunes memo dropped Friday and it contained basically all of what was previously reported: a description of out-of-bounds FBI flubs that appear to use surveillance as a tool to keep Donald Trump from the presidency.
One of the key questions throughout this annoying process has been whether the Steele dossier was the basis for spying on Americans, and if that was politically motivated. Instead of answering those predictable questions, it only sets off a volley of ongoing memos from both sides that abstract convenient nuggets of information masquerading as the truth.
Here's my problem with Devin Nunes: he had all of the memo information before he pushed to kill the Amash amendment that put safeguards on section 702 of the FISA act, and he thrust easier and more robust spying tools into the hands of agencies that were clearly abusing them. And then he acts outraged when lines are crossed and rights are trampled.
You can't feign shock when a powerful agency like the FBI abuses the power it feels entitled to wield in secret just because it damages someone you're politically aligned with.
The question becomes is it possible for Robert Mueller to finish his investigation, and could operatives within the Trump campaign have been used as pawns by a filthy Russian regime all while the FBI was freestyling to maintain its status quo under President Hillary?
Yes, to all of it. Abuses of power should be outrageous and unacceptable regardless of who's in power, what party they belong to and how much you dislike them.
The FBI knew Christopher Steele was a dubious liar, and his tainted methods and testimony should have been enough to distance him from the whole damn thing.
His work shouldn't have been the key to unlocking a warrant to spy on an American; that is dishonest and lazy.
Go ahead and release every memo so showboaters like Nunes and Adam Schiff aren't tempted to use these abstractions to further their careers while steering us further from the truth we so richly deserve.