4 pages of secret documents deepen internal disagreements in the US government

Republicans on February 2 declassified a four-page memo alleging that senior US law enforcement officials lied to the court to conduct surveillance on a former official who served on Donald Trump’s campaign. The memo is further deepening the disagreements between the White House and Republicans with the Justice Department and the FBI, according toWashington Post.

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The FBI has not commented publicly on the memo, but FBI Director Christopher A. Wray sent a memo to employees urging them to avoid being distracted by the debate surrounding the issue.

The memo, written by House Republicans, said they had “increasing concerns about the legitimacy and legality of certain interactions between the Department of Justice and the FBI with the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC),” which has the authority to monitor individuals suspected of being foreign agents or agents.

The document also alleges that the surveillance order against Carter Page, a former campaign adviser to President Trump, was based on information from an individual with an agenda against Mr. Trump.

Republicans also argued that the surveillance order undermined the original goal of the investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. presidential election led by special counsel Robert S. Mueller III.

It is not yet clear whether President Trump will use the memo as an excuse to fire people involved in the investigation, including Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein, but Democrats warn that firing Justice Department officials could lead to a legal crisis.

Matthew Olsen, a former Justice Department official, called the memo a “clearly amateurish political effort” that did not raise any meaningful legal questions about the request to surveil Carter Page. Olsen said he was concerned that the memo would undermine the collaborative relationship between different parts of the government involved in intelligence gathering.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions said the issues raised by the memo were of "grave national importance" and the Justice Department would "fairly and fully determine the facts."

California Republican Congressman Devin Nunes, chairman of the US House Intelligence Committee, yesterday revealed to the television channelFox NewsNunes has denied that he colluded with Trump's lawyers or outside interests to draft the memo.

Mr. Carter Page did not hesitate to praise the release of the memo. "The thoughtful and courageous attitude of congressional leaders in uncovering this unprecedented abuse of power is a historic leap forward in the effort to repair American democracy," he emphasized.

In contrast, one of the targets of the memo, former FBI Director James Comey, expressed his displeasure. "The dishonest and false memo has devastated the House Intelligence Committee, destroyed confidence in the intelligence community, compromised the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, and exposed a secret investigation of an American citizen. For what? The Justice Department and the FBI must do their jobs," he stressed.

Current and retired US law enforcement officials said that before the memo was released, the FBI was concerned that rules governing classified information could hamper its ability to respond to charges against it, similar to the four-page memo released by Republicans.

According to the memo, in September 2016, Christopher Steele, a former US intelligence official in the UK, admitted that he "desperately wished Donald Trump did not win the presidency" in a conversation with Bruce Ohr, a Justice Department official.

At the time, Steele was researching Trump’s ties to Russia on behalf of Fusion GPS, a Washington-based company that also hired Ohr’s wife to investigate the allegations.

Fusion GPS was hired in the spring of 2016 by a lawyer representing Hillary Clinton’s campaign and the Democratic National Committee to conduct research on Trump. It was only after receiving money from Democrats that Fusion GPS hired Steele.

The memo notes that law enforcement officials identified Steele as a valuable informant in a corruption investigation at FIFA but did not tell the court about Steele's political views toward Trump, saying that Steele's "anti-Trump motivations" were "ignored or concealed."

Law enforcement officials, however, say they often rely on information from people with grievances or disagreements to begin investigations, but agents will have to check the accuracy of any statements before filing a surveillance request.