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Congressman Cohen Reacts to Release of Nunes Memo

February 2, 2018

Says it is deliberately misleading to undermine Mueller probe

WASHINGTON – Congressman Steve Cohen (TN-09) expressed grave concerns about today's unprecedented and dangerously reckless release of classified information contained in the Republican House Intelligence Committee memo attributed to California Rep. Devin Nunes, and made the following statement:

"I read both the Nunes memo and still-classified Democratic staff response memo earlier this week and find the President's decision to release the Republican spin document both dangerous and self-serving. I agree with the intelligence community, FBI Director Christopher Wray and several Republican senators that the deliberately misleading and incomplete document undermines national security.

"Nunes' willingness to risk the credibility of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to tar the motive of federal prosecutors in obtaining and then seeking renewal of a FISA warrant is reprehensible, but also literally incredible. It can't be believed. The target of the warrant, Carter Page, was a Trump campaign foreign policy advisor, traveled to Russia in that capacity in 2016 and had been the subject of FBI scrutiny since 2013 because of his association with known Russian intelligence operatives. FISA warrants target suspected foreign agents. The FBI was interested, as we should be, in why Trump was getting foreign policy advice from a suspected foreign agent.

"Don't be misled. This is political spin aimed at casting doubt on Special Counsel Robert Mueller's criminal probe of possible collusion between Trump's campaign and the Russian government – a probe that has already resulted in guilty pleas and indictments.

"Trump and his cronies may think that repeating and repeating that the genesis of suspicions about Trump and Russia stemmed from the Steele dossier will make it so. Keep your eyes open. This is an effort to confuse and sow chaos to help a President who is rightly terrified we may soon learn the truth."