memeorandum: This is the week that the GOP truly became the party of Trump (Dan Balz/Washington Post)

7:25 PM ET, February 3, 2018

Top Items:

Mike Memoli / NBC News:

Democratic rebuttal calls Nunes memo ‘deliberately misleading’ — WASHINGTON — A top House Democrat is challenging the core conclusion of the memo released by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes on Friday, calling the allegation that the Justice Department and FBI withheld key details …

Discussion: Daily Kos, TheBlaze, Raw Story, NBC News and LewRockwell

Associated Press:

Trump seized on what memo could mean even before reading it — WASHINGTON (AP) — Even before he'd read the memo, President Donald Trump seized on what it could mean. — The president first learned of the House Intelligence Committee document last month from some Republican allies in Congress …

Dan Balz / Washington Post:

This is the week that the GOP truly became the party of Trump — This was the week when the Republican Party finally went all in with President Trump. What once seemed unlikely is now reality. The Republican establishment — there are a few dissenting voices, of course …

Ellen Nakashima / Washington Post:

Justice Dept. told court of source's political influence in request to wiretap ex-Trump campaign aide, officials say … The court that approved surveillance of a former campaign adviser to President Trump was aware that some of the information underpinning the warrant request was paid …

Discussion: Washington Monthly, CNN, Splinter, neo-neocon, RedState, The Mahablog, KTLA, ThinkProgress, 89.3 KPCC, NPR, Althouse, USA Today, Business Insider, New York Times and National Review

Noah Bookbinder / USA Today:

Nunes memo aims at Russia probe, backfires on Trump and GOP — The controversial Nunes memo is out. It claims the FBI and the Justice Department abused their surveillance authority on Trump's 2016 Presidential campaign. Democrats say the memo is misleading.

Discussion: The Hill, New York Times, The Guardian, Politicus USA, NBC News and Business Insider

New York Times:

Trump's Unparalleled War on a Pillar of Society: Law Enforcement — WASHINGTON — In the days before the 2016 election, Donald J. Trump expressed “great respect” for the “courage” of the F.B.I. and Justice Department for reopening the investigation into Hillary Clinton's private email server.

Discussion: Fox News Insider and Joe.My.God.

Washington Post:

Once the party of law and order, Republicans are now challenging it … Republican leaders' open defiance last week of the FBI over the release of a hotly disputed memo revealed how the GOP, which has long positioned itself as the party of law and order, has become an adversary …

Discussion: New York Post, CNN, KFOR-TV, CNBC, FOX6Now.com, bizpacreview.com, ABC News, CBS New York, New York Times, Breitbart, NBC News, Business Insider, Outside the Beltway, KTLA, IJR, Vox, NPR, Politico and The Guardian

Axios:

Exclusive poll: GOP turns on FBI — President Trump's hammering on the FBI — and green-lighting yesterday of the Russia memo's release over Bureau objections — is having a profound effect: — A SurveyMonkey poll for Axios finds that not even 40% of Republicans approve …

Discussion: Mediaite, Vox and RedState

Josh Campbell / New York Times:

Why I Am Leaving the F.B.I. — One of the greatest honors of my life was walking across the stage at the F.B.I. Academy and receiving my special agent badge from the director at the time, Robert Mueller. After 21 weeks of intensive training, my class swore an oath and became federal agents entrusted …

Discussion: TheBlaze, The Gateway Pundit, Axios, Shareblue Media, Raw Story and Mediaite

The Intercept:

Nunes Memo Accidentally Confirms the Legitimacy of the FBI's Investigation — Despite strong objections from the Justice Department, House Republicans released a four-page memo on Friday challenging the “legitimacy and legality” of the FBI's surveillance of Carter Page …

Discussion: Lawfare, Washington Post, Hullabaloo, VICE, Balloon Juice, Politico, National Review, Sputnik International, Splinter, The Gateway Pundit, Breitbart, France 24, bizpacreview.com, NPR and CBS Miami

Asha Rangappa / New York Times:
Thank Progressives for the Nunes Memo

Discussion: No More Mister Nice Blog, Hullabaloo and Washington Post

New York Times:
Kashyap Patel, Main Author of Secret Memo, Is No Stranger to Quarrels

Discussion: The Hill, RedState, IJR, The Liberty Review, The Daily Caller and The Daily Signal

David Siders / Politico:
Nunes challenger seizes on FBI memo uproar

Discussion: Raw Story

Tim Arango / New York Times:
Washington Is Abuzz Over the Nunes Memo. His California District, Not So Much.

Discussion: Los Angeles Times

Max Greenwood / The Hill:
Officials disclosed source's political funding in FISA application: report

Discussion: RedState, Splinter and Liberty Unyielding

Marcy Wheeler / HuffPost:
The Nunes-Ryan Civil Liberties Sham

Discussion: emptywheel and RedState

Washington Post:
Inside the FBI: Anger, worry, work — and fears of lasting damage

Discussion: Raw Story and Talking Points Memo

Eli Lake / Bloomberg:
The Memo Is Neither ‘Treasonous’ Nor ‘Worse Than Watergate’

Discussion: The Moderate Voice

Phillip Carter / Slate:
Survival at All Costs — On its face, the so-called Nunes …

Discussion: Raw Story, New York Times, Outside the Beltway, Booman Tribune, Lawfare, Mashable, Mediaite and Daily Kos

Wall Street Journal:
GOP Memo Escalates Clash Over Russia Probe

Discussion: Washington Post, The Last Refuge, Outside the Beltway, Congressman Raul Labrador, Online NewsHour, Washington Monthly, Lawfare, Senator Susan Collins and ThinkProgress

Bret Stephens / New York Times:
Devin Nunes's Nothingburger

Discussion: Business Insider, Los Angeles Times, IJR, The Week, CNN, PolitiFact, ECHIDNE OF THE SNAKES and NBC News

Chris Buskirk / American Greatness: Worse Than Watergate — The FISA Abuse Memo is out and now …

Wall Street Journal:
A Reckoning for the FBI — The House memo reveals disturbing facts …

Discussion: Breitbart

David A. Graham / The Atlantic:
Trump's Saturday Night Massacre Is Already Happening

Discussion: Don Surber, Outside the Beltway, New York Times, Washington Post, Raw Story and twitchy.com

Maureen Dowd / New York Times:

This Is Why Uma Thurman Is Angry — The actress is finally ready to talk about Harvey Weinstein. — Yes, Uma Thurman is mad. — She has been raped. She has been sexually assaulted. She has been mangled in hot steel. She has been betrayed and gaslighted by those she trusted.

Discussion: Mashable, Hollywood Life, The Verge, IndieWire, ABC News, Breitbart, Deadline, Washington Post, Vox, The Guardian, CBS Los Angeles, Glamour, Mediaite, RedState, thecut, AOL, Refinery29, Decider, WPIX 11 New York, Althouse, CBS New York and The Blast

Juliet Eilperin / Washington Post:

White House to withdraw controversial nominee to head Council on Environmental Quality … This post has been updated. — The White House plans to withdraw its controversial nominee to head the Council on Environmental Quality, Kathleen Hartnett White, according to two administration officials briefed …

Discussion: Axios and Raw Story

Caroline Orr / Shareblue Media:

Trump Hotel caught directly profiting off taxpayer dime — Ethics watchdogs have warned about Donald Trump's conflicts of interest since before he took office — and for good reason. Despite claiming that he would divest from his businesses, Trump simply turned them over to his sons …

CNN: Document shows GSA employees spending at the Trump Hotel in DC

Nick Coltrain / Coloradoan Online:

Protests turn violent at CSU after Charlie Kirk speech — Protests around a conservative speaker at CSU on Friday night started peaceful, even if it got rowdy at times, but quickly turned violent when a group wielding riot shields, large flashlights and face masks emblazoned with skulls stormed …

Discussion: RedState, Washington Examiner, Colorado Politics and FOX31 Denver

Anton Troianovski / Washington Post:

AN ARCTIC SPY MYSTERY — An arrest in Moscow shakes Norway's far north — Frode Berg volunteered in a soup kitchen in rural Russia. He helped organize an annual cross-border festival and ski race. His congregation supported a new church in a Russian town just over the boundary line that divides East from West.