Congress, Constitutional Law, Courts, Politics, Society

Schiff Accuses Nunes Of Altering Memo Before Submission To Trump For Possible Release
440px-Adam_Schiff_115th_official_photo The plot thickened last night over the anticipated release of a four-page memo from the House Intelligence Committee.  California Rep. Adam Schiff (D) publicly accused House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) of giving President Trump a “secretly altered” version of the memo to review for possible release.  The Schiff allegation raises an interesting issue under the House that could theoretically warrant judicial review (though the outcome is far from certain).  The Committee staff is arguing that the changes were minor edits, including grammatical changes.

As discussed in my column in the Hill newspaper, subsection 11(g) of Rule X allows the members to vote to release classified information when the majority determines “that the public interest would be served by such disclosure.” With such a vote, the president is notified of the action and is given five days to determine if the material should be released to the public. If a president objects, the committee can vote to refer the matter to the entire House of Representatives for a closed session and vote on the release of the information.

However, the rule anticipates that the presidential review and later possible House vote will be the same document approved by the Committee. Otherwise, the rule would make little sense since material could be added or removed unilaterally.

That is what Schiff is alleging.  He said in a tweet (when did we shift to government-by-tweet?):

“Discovered late tonight that Chairman Nunes made material changes to the memo he sent to White House – changes not approved by the Committee. White House therefore reviewing a document the Committee has not approved for release.”

The question is how such a dispute is handled.  Schiff notably did not seek an injunction from a court. These matters are generally left to the Congress to handle and a court would likely decline to intervene. However, what is being alleged is not the merits of the decision to proceed under Rule X but the failure to follow the rules.

There is also the question of whether removing material is the same as adding material. I do not know what Schiff is referencing but if information was deleted, Nunes could claim that the “lesser is contained in the greater” of the original vote.

As for grammatical changes, it could be argued that there changes were de minimus.  However, the time to correct language and grammar was before the vote, not after the vote.  That does not mean that this is a major breach, but it should have been avoided through better staff work.

Since this rule has never been used, this is a rather novel addition to an already novel situation.

 

What do you think?

247 thoughts on “Schiff Accuses Nunes Of Altering Memo Before Submission To Trump For Possible Release”

  1. Why doesn’t the White House, along with Nunes heed the advice of the FBI and not release the memo?

      2. Start with a conclusion then leave it up to others to disprove. Straight out of the Fox News playbook of conspiracy theories. Well played.

      3. Or to put it another way, why doesn’t the defendant want the jury verdict read aloud? I know it’s complicated but I have faith in carterbo.

  2. America’s only true home grown criminal class… Congress so sayeth Mark Twain

  3. One of the ongoing problems with the Nunes-Schiff House Committee is that there seems to be almost a regular “Adam Schiff” segment to the network news.
    I see Schiff giving multiple interviews, and Nunes giving virtually none.
    Re the latest charge by Schiff that “material changes” were made to the original memo that the committee ( along partisan lines) voted to release, I don’t think that the GOP members of that committee can continue to sit around with their thumbs up their noses, and not respond to the “material changes” charge.
    If they don’t, or can’t, effectively challenge the charges made, I think it needs to go back in its ( allegedly) revised, final form to the committee for another vote.
    That’s likely to result in the same partisan-line vote they held before, but at least it should put the “post-vote alteration” accusation to rest.

  4. Keep in mind there are two sets of memos. One from Gowdy’s committee and one from Nunes Committee and both involve some of the same players however the GOWDY is at the oval office due out today or tomorrow. and involves who wrote and who paid for the dossier. The other has to do with misprision of office.

  6. There’s just one problem with schiff’s story its appear to be. Overblown deceptive and desperate attempt to stop to stop the memo from public

    2. Albania,…
      The problem is that Schiff is out there ” selling it”….the charge that there were material post-vote changes made to the memo….and that the GOP members of that committee have a history of not responding to Schiff’s accusations.
      If it is “overblown deception”, it’s likely to be effective deception if Schiff’s accusations are not refuted.

  7. Ideas, statements, memos, whether accurate or not, manipulated or not, biased or not, are worthy of consideration. Either they fit with one’s existing mental structure, or they are likely to be discarded. No mater whether the document was adjusted or not, some will like it and some will call it “fake news.” – just as people do with religious books, text books, newspaper reports, internet blogs, and Fox “news”.

    1. He left out the others because they departed the mainstream and the name media and went extreme left and pure propaganda.

  8. I”m all for Schiff just releasing the original that he has fought tooth and nail to suppress. Go get em Mr. Transparency!!!

    1. So the Rs can release their original, their altered copy after Nunes changed it after the vote, and the Ds version. Are you okay with our seeing all three of them, in the interest of transparency??

    2. Jill,…
      I don’t think that Schiff will necessarily have to release any “hard copies” of any memos.
      If necessary, he’s likely to get the contents of the memos released by giving more interviews on TV.
      It could be an “oral accounting” of the memos that Schiff uses to get the information out.

  9. Schifff said the memo should not be released because the American people were too stupid to understand what they were reading. The last tine someone said the American people were too stupid to understand what was going on we got Obamacare.

    1. He’s right. Most Americans have no expertise at all in intelligence matters and will have no idea how to interpret the thing.

      But, if they want to release it to an ignorant public, at least release the R and the D versions so we can be ignorant about both of them.

  10. Pingback: Schiff Accuses Nunes Of Altering Memo Before Submission To Trump For Possible Release | Top 100 Blog Review

  11. Who is more believable, Mark Corallo or Hope Hicks? Corallo quit his job as the spokesperson for Trump’s lawyers. We’ll see if reports are true that he quit rather than be part of obstruction of justice.

    2. Autumn is so cool always first with the nifty nicknames bot to you by your favorite “progressive”. Good work, comrade, see you next story.

      1. Da name shifty schiff comes from Hannity. She is not original and I bet she was never a real Bernie supporter. Views don’t match. As we know now there were thousands of bots and ruskie trolls that were claiming to have supported Bernie but had switched to T rump. You and I ain’t fooled.

  13. Me thinks thou protest to much oh Sir Pencil Neck Schiff. I recall some grammatical changes were made with mistress Hilly, where were thee protests then Sir Pencil Neck?

  14. So Nunes submits a different document than what was approved by a vote of the committee, it is, therefore something not approved by the committee. If they wanted to edit it, feel free but hold another vote. Mespo assures us based on his Kreskin-like powers that the changes were to comply with FBI concerns and grammatical errors. The point is that an arbitrary decision was made to change the document without notification.

    The thing Turley and the rest of you aren’t talking about is whether the White House was involved in drafting the document with Nunes staff in the first place? According to the committee transcripts, Nunes refused to answer the question. The desire here to protect the President means being willfully obtuse. When parts of the Nunes memo are indeed shown to be misleading. You’ll ignore that as well. #Sad

    1. Between the two of them, Nunes and Trump have enough consciousness of guilt behavior to power another 20 seasons of Law and Order.

        1. Not them. They remain strangers to themselves. Meanwhile, Maria simply observes their public behavior and infers the probable suppression of their consciousness of guilt.

    3. Did Turley talk about Nunes lack of integrity as shown by his previous FISA charade. How much can these bots stomach?

      1. They can apparently stomach a whole lot. Yet are the first to stand up and call themselves patriots. Some have become the equivalent of Russian bots, with exactly the same loyalties.

  16. if this memo is so tainted why are the democrats fighting so hard to suppress it. if it altered and they can prove it would be great for the democrats.

    1. Agreed. I would be astonished if the dems hadn’t raised a ruckus and accused their opposition of chicanery, that’s their only M.O. anymore. I don’t believe them, they ran out of substance long ago, it’s that simple. If they had evidence there were foul play, there would not be one peep of this sort coming out of them. The DNC is running out of body parts to shoot itself in.

      1. Because they will need tRump’s and the committee’s support to release the truth. Or, they will release the truth after the lie has infected the mindless that you count on.

  17. Even Shakespeare edited his plays. And Trump has the power to declassify anything, so there!!!

    1. What is da committee rule? If you vote on somethin can it be changed after da vote? I think no but I don’t have da House rules in front of me. Schiff is a smartie and Nunes is a dummy so Schiff is probably right on it. He would look at da rule book.

      1. Ken – when the President can release what he wants “What difference does it make????”

    2. So, why doesn’t Mr. Trump declassify the entire FISA warrant? That way, we’d see the original documents and arguments. I’ll wait for your answer.

      2. Ask President Trump the gowdy memo is in his hands already and the nunes memo is follwoing.

    3. Shakespeare wasn’t releasing classified information. Shakespeare wasn’t supposed to be following a legal process involved in the release of the info. Why even require a vote on the release if afterward, Nunes can change the document without notification or approval?

      The criticism of the memo in the first place is that it’s misleading. Changing it after the vote is simply bait and switch. The agreement to receive classified info from Justice in the first place was contingent on it not being released.

        1. “Boyd did not stop with Nunes. “Boyd also wrote that ‘wider distribution of the classified information’ presumably contained in Nunes’ memo would be a ‘significant deviation’ from the Department’s agreement with House intel and the office of House Speaker Paul Ryan,” according to the CNN report.”

          https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/right-turn/wp/2018/01/25/the-justice-department-stands-up-to-a-reckless-republican/?utm_term=.60e609ef3e4c

        2. Mike, of course, it isn’t true. We are dealing with Enigma where lies and errors are intermixed, sometimes with a tiny bit of truth.

      2. enigmainblack said, “Shakespeare wasn’t releasing classified information.”

        He had Christopher Marlowe write and release a memo instead. Poor Marlowe. Never saw it coming.

        1. Diane – we know that Kit Marlowe acted as a spy for Elizabeth I on several occasions. And his death is sooooo suspicious that he probably fled to Europe where he retired.

  18. Schiff is the Obama errand boy trying to protect the Emperor. I smell fear.

    1. Only in Washington would these tactics pass the laugh test; anywhere else, we would be debating (or be done debating) the merits of the case.

      1. I think it’s tied to the fact that Russia gave money to Nunes and countless others through the NRA. All our politicians are afraid of the NRA and since it was revealed that Russia gave the NRA millions, hardly a peep about it anywhere.

        1. and ignoring the money they gave to the pay for play scam….. which is now being investigated by DOJ starting with Little Rock

        2. Enigmain, please offer any proof you have to factually support your first sentence.

          1. I think Enigma is talking about the other NRA, the National Russia Association. Because I don’t think the Russians would give money to the gun-NRA, and I don’t think it is anything other than some more Leftist Speculation.

            But, paraphrasing James Carville, “drag a Russian-collusion story thru a main stream media office. . .”

            Squeeky Fromm
            Girl Reporter

            1. “A year ago, three U.S. intelligence agencies signed off on a joint assessment that was the basis for the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats and other sanctions against the Kremlin. The intelligence agencies concluded that what began as a sophisticated Russian operation to undermine Americans’ faith in democracy morphed into a drive to help Trump win.

              Torshin is among a phalanx of Putin proxies to draw the close attention of U.S. investigators, who also have tracked the activities of several Russian billionaires and pro-Russian Ukrainian oligarchs that have come in contact with Trump or his surrogates.

              Torshin was a senior member of the Russian Senate and in recent years helped set up a Moscow gun rights group called Right to Bear Arms. He not only spoke with Trump Jr. at the NRA convention, but he also tried unsuccessfully to broker a meeting between Putin and the presidential candidate in 2016, according to the Times. He further sought to meet privately with the candidate himself near the 2016 NRA convention.

              Torshin’s ties with the NRA have flourished in recent years. In late 2015, he hosted two dinners for a high-level NRA delegation during its week-long visit to Moscow that included meetings with influential Russian government and business figures.”

              . . .

              http://www.mcclatchydc.com/news/nation-world/national/article195231139.html#storylink=indep

              1. My sources tell me that Torshin is also an avid fly fisherman. There are rumors that he has a subscription to Field and Stream, and American Angler. He supposedly has a first edition of Isaak Walton’s, The Complete Angler.

                There is also a rumor that he went fly fishing in Arkansas several times, during the same time that Bill Clinton was in the state. And what was the name of that property the Clintons invested in, . . .Whitewater???

                Sooo, this Torshin is definitely a slippery fellow, especially when he is out there standing on those slick trout stream rocks. I think him inviting NRA people to dinner is just a ruse, and that his real operation is thru various pro-fishing groups, and maybe even Bass Pro Shops and Goose Mountain, who would be great places to launder cash.

                Squeeky Fromm
                Girl Reporter

                1. You need to read outside of your 77% comfort zone, Annie Oakley. Too busy sharpening your knives and loading ammo?

                  Read some Spanish and Swiss sources about Torshin, and also Veselnitskaya.

                  You show your ignorance with every post.

                  1. Ignorance??? As the French say, “Eau Contraire!” To me, it is simply irrelevant how bad Torshin may or may not be, when there is no proof of a money trail to the NRA, and thence to Trump. What there is, is guilt by association. Liberals don’t like Trump, they don’t like the NRA, and they now have a Russian who is a member of the NRA! Sooo, how do their little pea brains work? The same way it did with 9-11. Bush knows a lot of Saudis, and the terrorists were mostly Saudis, sooo Bush brought down the Towers!

                    And, why do I suspect that when NRA members going to a dinner with a Russian is fodder enough for speculation that money changed hands, then why do I suspect that your standards are sooo much different when it comes to Hillary, the Secretary of State’s office, and multi-millions to her and Bill’s so-called foundation??? Heck, in that one, you do NOT have to speculate about money changing hands, because it is in the record. And you even have incensed Haitians protesting Hillary’s failure to perform, and still I bet you are one of those who didn’t see nothing wrong.

                    Echo chambers? Look in the mirror, dude!

                    Squeeky Fromm
                    Girl Reporter

              1. Of course, there was that huge denial from the NRA. Oh, wait! No there wasn’t. Then were the calls for Congressional investigations because of the potential influence of dark money? On no, no calls for that either. If it were Planned Parenthood and not the NRA Congress would be all over this.

                Seriously, it may be true, it may not. You might agree with me that there is no sign that a Congress beholden to the NRA including many Democrats, doesn’t even want to know? Why do we allow unlimited anonymous contributions into our elections? The opposite of transparency.

                1. “it may be true, it may not” – then why did you state that it was a fact?

                  I think it’s tied to the fact that Russia gave money to Nunes and countless others through the NRA.

                  [Emphasis mine]

                    1. “Poetic license…” is the answer Enigma gives for stating a fact that he later admits may not be true. From now on when Enigma makes a claim everyone should respond utilizing the words Poetic license. In that way, we will all know the lack of veracity of Enigma’s claims.

            2. Ah another investigation. I guess we’ll see where that one goes too, huh?

          3. Enigma believes he has a “poetic license” to change the facts at will. See Enigma’s post at February 1, 2018 at 5:36 PM

            1. You are painfully ignorant. Sorry you were bullied as a child but at what point do you grow up?

              1. Ynot, you can call me what you wish, but I have seen the trash you write. Ignorance is bliss, so perhaps you are the lucky one.

      2. Schiff thinks there are russian submarine races on the Potomac River. no proof of any collusion.it looks bad for the democrats.

        1. Da bots will attack anyone that comes close to da money laundering case. Comey Mueller Schiff McCabe Rosenstein. What does Putin have on T rump. Must be a lot more than a pee pee tape.

            1. TBob,..
              These clowns are long on accusations and suspicions, short on evidence.

  19. Yeah, he acceded to two FBI requests for redaction on methods and sources. Plus, he made grammatical changes. Wow Schiff knows a smoking gun when he sees it!

    2. Congress created the FBI, oversees the FBI and funds the FBI yet the FBI refused to release information requested by Congress. I see no howls of displeasure by the left over the FBI’s lack of compliance to Congress. Suddenly the left wakes up when the memo is to be released.

      I guess that tells us that a portion of the FBI was likely in cahoots with the left.

      Not only should this memo be released, but the FBI’s secretive nature should be made to be more transparent.

    3. Business Insider

      “A representative for Nunes responded to the allegation, saying Schiff was ‘complaining about minor edits to the memo, including grammatical fixes and two edits requested by the FBI and by the minority themselves.'”

      1. Thanks, George. I forgot that Schiff wanted a change that, once accomplished, would for the basis of his complaint. Sort of like the parricidal man who demanded mercy from the court since he was an an orphan. Schiff is a bad –if bumbling — guy.

  20. Tactics of delay, diversion, and obfuscation.

    In other words, business as usual for Congress.

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