[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 22 (Monday, February 5, 2018)]
[Senate]
[Pages S598-S599]
RUSSIA INVESTIGATION
Mr. LEAHY. Madam President, on another matter, last Friday, Devin
Nunes, the House Intelligence Committee chairman, received approval to
release a classified memo that purports to show that a FISA application
to conduct surveillance of a Trump campaign aide was politically
motivated. Over the weekend, the President, speaking in the third
person, told us this memo ``totally vindicates `Trump' '' in the Russia
investigation. Following a pattern that has become all too familiar,
the President also viciously attacked the FBI in a series of tweets,
something we have never seen by any President, either Republican or
Democratic--certainly not in my memory.
There are more than a few problems with this, the most disturbing of
which go well beyond this highly flawed and misleading memo. In case
anyone believes this memo represents a serious attempt to address
serious problems within the FBI or within our FISA surveillance
authorities, I want to raise a few points they might consider because
if they think it actually addresses serious problems, they either
haven't read it or they don't understand the serious problems.
For years, I have been leading calls in the Senate to protect our
civil liberties and reform our surveillance authorities under FISA. I
am appreciative of the number of Republicans and Democrats who have
joined me in that cause. This memo, however, has absolutely nothing to
do with improving FISA. Nor does this partisan memo have anything to do
with serious oversight of FISA authorities more broadly.
Instead, whether intentional or not, this memo represents a direct
attack on rank-and-file professionals in both our law enforcement and
our national security agencies. The memo deliberately distorts a
multilayered process that is required to obtain and renew a judicial
warrant for a suspected foreign agent. This meticulous process to
obtain or renew a judicial warrant is conducted by career, nonpartisan
professionals. In this case, the process led to a warrant, approved by
a Federal judge and was renewed three times, for Trump campaign adviser
Carter Page.
Carter Page is an individual who bragged about his ties to Russia. He
even claimed at one point publicly to be an adviser to the Kremlin. He
was also targeted for recruitment by known Russian spies beginning in
2013. Both of these facts are conveniently left out of the Nunes memo.
But the Nunes memo was not about capturing relevant facts or
conducting actual oversight. If it were, the House Intelligence
Committee Chairman would have read the underlying intelligence that
purported to form the basis of the memo. He did not. If it were about
actual oversight, he would have granted the FBI Director's request to
brief his Committee prior to releasing the memo. He did not. If it were
about transparency, he would have allowed the Democratic response memo
to be released at the same time. He did not.
Instead, his Committee voted along party lines last week to block the
Democratic response. We will learn later this evening if they are going
to change course and allow its release.
I have been here since the beginning of both the House and the Senate
Intelligence Committees. I have never seen anything as partisan as
this.
Proponents of this memo claim it proves that the FISA warrant of
Carter Page was politically motivated. They claim that the so-called
Steele dossier was the reason why a FISA warrant was granted and that
the dossier could not be relied on because it was indirectly funded by
Democratic interests. What it ignores is that this document was only
one part of the lengthy FISA application establishing probable cause.
The judge had to look at all of it.
Never mind that the judge was explicitly informed of the likelihood
of a political motivation behind the dossier. The Republican memo
conveniently leaves that out. By leaving it out, it undermines its
central claim that the FBI hid the ball on the dossier's political
origins. And never mind that the dossier was originally funded by a
conservative newspaper, or that its author had previously been assessed
by the FBI to be a reliable source.
One can disregard all of those facts and still see the memo for what
it is: a complete and utter dud. The memo itself just disproves its own
premise. Because of its reference to the controversial Steele dossier,
President Trump and his allies paint this FISA application as the
Russia investigation's original sin. They ignore the fact that the memo
also reveals that an entirely separate source unrelated to the Steele
dossier provided information to the FBI that triggered the opening of
the FBI's counterintelligence investigation into the individuals
associated with the Trump campaign. Oddly enough, that is something we
did not see in President Trump's tweets over the weekend.
What we knew about the memo leads to one and only one conclusion: The
FBI did its job. Rank-and-file professionals within the FBI and DOJ
acted appropriately when obtaining a FISA warrant of Carter Page.
Frankly, the President's attacks on these career professionals for
obtaining the FISA warrant are entirely without merit.
I have been here with Republican Presidents and Democratic
Presidents, eight Presidents in all, and I have never seen anybody make
such unwarranted attacks on career professionals. These professionals,
I suppose, if we really look, are Republicans, Democrats, and some are
apolitical. All of them are professional. What the Republican memo from
the House reveals is nothing about abuses in the FISA process, but it
does reveal a lot about both the President and the House Republicans
who released it. It represents yet another desperate, hyperpartisan
attempt to smear key Justice Department officials and undermine the
Russia investigation.
Again, in my 40-some-odd years in the Senate, I have never seen this
under either Republican or Democratic leadership or either a Republican
or Democratic President.
Let's remember what is at stake. This is not about a Republican memo,
which is nothing more than a sloppy, bad-faith attempt to distract from
the special counsel's Russia investigation, nor is it about the Steele
dossier. That represents an almost irrelevant side story. The only
thing that matters here is that a foreign adversary attacked our
democracy in 2016, suffered no consequences, and is poised to do it
again. The President is not willing to address this threat. He is not
even willing to implement sanctions on Russia that were overwhelmingly
approved by the vast majority of both Republicans and Democrats in the
Congress. The only thing this President has done in response to this
threat is disparage the very people who defend our country from such
foreign attacks--our dedicated law enforcement and intelligence
professionals. I am afraid that for the President, it is Trump first
and America second.
The fact is, we are under constant attacks on our political system by
Russia. Which countries did the President single out in the State of
the Union Address as countries that pose grave threats to the United
States? Venezuela and Cuba. No. It is the second largest nuclear power
in the world that is a threat, a power that has shown, by anybody's
analysis or efforts--many of them successful--to undermine the
electoral system not only of our country but of others.
It is more important than ever that the Special Counsel be able to
complete his investigation without interference from either the
President or any misguided allies in Congress. We need to know first
how Russia interfered in our election, and whether anyone in the
President's circle aided that effort or tried to cover it up.
I have been in the Senate for more than 43 years. I have never been
as concerned as I am today for the institutions in our country and for
our ability to stay united in the face of a true, unprecedented threat.
I don't say this lightly.
Madam President, I have walked back and forth the dirt road in front
of my home in Vermont. I have paced the floor and thought about it. I
have gone back through notes I have taken through Presidents going back
to Gerald Ford when I first came here, notes I took as a young, 34-
year-old U.S. Senator. I have never been as concerned as
[[Page S599]]
I am now. I have never been as concerned about this great country
having the ability to stay united in the face of a true, unprecedented
threat. Russia will be back, and many say Russia has never left. Enough
with the partisan distractions. It is past time we faced this threat
standing together. The American people deserve that much.
Madam President, I yield the floor and suggest the absence of a
quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The senior assistant legislative clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. CORNYN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that the order for
the quorum call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
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