Lieu: Memo is a ‘fumble’ for Republicans and Trump

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Calif.), seizing on Super Bowl weekend, declared the release of a controversial memo by House Intelligence Committee Republicans a “fumble” that fell short of the “hail Mary” that they had hoped it would be.

“On #SuperBowl weekend, here’s an analogy: @realDonaldTrump & Nunes needed a hail Mary to stop the Mueller investigation,” Lieu, a member of the House Judiciary Committee, tweeted, referring to special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russia’s election meddling.

“Instead, what they executed was a dive play that lost yardage. And when the Democratic memo gets released, the replay will show a fumble.”

On #SuperBowl weekend, here’s an analogy: @realDonaldTrump & Nunes needed a hail Mary to stop the Mueller investigation. Instead, what they executed was a dive play that lost yardage. And when the Democratic memo gets released, the replay will show a fumble.#ReleaseTheRealMemo https://t.co/6UKxPGbZAf

— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) February 3, 2018

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Lieu’s comments came a day after Republicans on the House Intelligence panel made public a contentious memo alleging that FBI and Justice Department officials abused their authority in obtaining a surveillance warrant on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

That memo claims that law enforcement officials used a controversial opposition research dossier as an “essential” part of their application for a surveillance order on Page.

It also claims that the political origins of the dossier — it was financed in part by Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee — were not disclosed to the clandestine court that granted the warrant.

Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, led the push to release the GOP memo.

Democrats, however, have accused Republicans of painting a misleading picture of how the warrant was obtained, arguing that key facts were omitted to give the impression of abuses by FBI and Justice Department officials.

Democrats have also claimed that the GOP memo is intended to undermine and discredit Mueller’s investigation in order to protect President Trump from scrutiny. Mueller is looking into whether members of the Trump campaign conspired with Russia to help sway the 2016 presidential race, among other things.

Democrats on the Intelligence Committee are pushing to release their own memo rebutting the claims in the GOP document. That memo reportedly says that the court was made aware of the political origins of the dossier.