So the “disputed Nunes memo” has been released and is available here for download. I would recommend that everyone read it. It is only 6-pages long including the cover letter from White House Counsel Donald McGahn.

Two features quickly jump out of this memo. The first is how restrained and matter of fact it is. This is particularly unexpected in light of the inflammatory preview offered us by those opposing the memo’s release. The second feature is how extraordinarily damning it is to those who portray themselves as above reproach.

Here are some relevant points:

1. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Hilary Clinton Campaign paid Christopher Steele to compile the “Trump Dossier.”
2. Senior Department of Justice (DOJ) and FBI officials knew this to be true.
3. The FBI obtained one 90-day FISA warrant which allowed them to spy on U.S. citizen and Trump campaign volunteer, Carter Page.
   1. The FBI subsequently applied for and was granted three (3) 90-day extensions to their original warrant.
   2. Each renewal required a “separate finding of probable cause.” but failed to divulge this Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) when applying for the warrant.
4. The DOJ and FBI failed to disclose the political roots of the dossier to FISC in any of the applications for a FISA warrant.
   1. The initial application does mention that Steele worked for an unnamed U.S. citizen but does not reveal that this person had ties to the DNC.
5. Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr knew that Steele was “desperate that Donald Trump not get elected and was passionate about him not being president.” However, this prejudice against then candidate Trump was not disclosed in the FISA application.
6. Deputy FBI Director McCabe testified before the House Intelligence Committee and said that the FISA warrant would not have been sought had it not been for the information in the Steele dossier.

Perhaps you do not particularly care for President Trump. Your response then may be, “So what?”  Well, if the DOJ and FBI can abuse their power and intentionally circumvent the law with impunity in this case, then they can do the same for any candidate! Whether one approves of President Trump or not is beside the point. Rather the point is this: Do not grant power to an official with whom you agree that would be dangerous in the hands of one with whom you don’t.

This conclusion of this memo are all the more troubling since this – pardon the pun – trumped up FISA warrant is the basis through which U.S. citizen’s careers and financial fortunes have been destroyed. Most notable among these is Michael Flynn who President Trump rightly, I think, called “a good guy.”

The implications of this memo are at least as startling and foreboding as Watergate. The citizens of the United States should demand that those who abuse their power be held accountable, or we lose any hope of securing our democracy. Read the memo yourself and see if it doesn’t make you want to call your elected representatives.