More Memo Hell; Some House Republicans Distance Themselves From Trump

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WASHINGTON, DC - JANUARY 18: The U.S. Capitol is shown at sunset on January 18, 2018 in Washington, DC. Congress continues to wrestle with funding the federal government as immigration has become a key stumbling block in negotiations to pass a continuing resolution. (Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)

File this under “We’re writing as fast as we can, Mr. President!”

It seems Memo I was a bit of a bust, so how about Memo II, III, IV, and V?  Surely something will stick!  Sources tell Axios to expect much more to come from Devin Nunes and his Republican cohorts on the House Intelligence Committee.

“The House Intelligence chair and his team have told members and associates they’ve found other examples of politically motivated “wrongdoing” across various agencies, including the FBI, the broader Justice Department, and the State Department.”

Axios was also told to not expect the same circus for later memos.  Nunes and his writing staff will allegedly produce reports that don’t require declassification.

Meanwhile, the Democrats, who were denied the release of their Nunes rebuttal, are appealing to Donald Trump to have their version released.  Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer wrote a letter to Trump asking his parties response be made public in the name of fairness.

Yesterday, Trump tweeted that the Nunes memo vindicates him but Vox has compiled reaction from the Sunday morning talk circuit where members of his own party disagreed.

“Republican Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC), who this week announced he is retiring from Congress, told CBS’s Margaret Brennan on Face the Nation on Sunday that the memo doesn’t have an impact on the Russia probe at all. “Not to me, it doesn’t,” he said. Rep. Will Hurd (R-TX) told ABC’s Stephanopoulos that he doesn’t agree with the president’s assertion that the memo vindicates him. Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT) told Fox’s Chris Wallace on Fox News Sunday that the Russia probe and the memo’s release are “very separate” issues. “I think it would be a mistake for anyone to suggest the special counsel should not continue his work,” he said. Rep. Brad Wenstrup (R-OH) said on CNN that the memo and the Russia investigation are a “separate issue.”