#ReleaseTheMemo

#ReleaseTheMemo

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Updated Feb 28, 2018 at 04:47PM EST by Matt.

Added Jan 22, 2018 at 11:46AM EST by Don.

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About

#ReleaseTheMemo is a Twitter hashtag used on the social networking site to demand the release of a four-page memo delivered to the House Intelligence Committee regarding wiretapping allegations against Donald Trump.

Origin

On January 18th, 2018, the United States House Intelligence Committee voted to allow House members to view a four-page classified memo alleging abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) surveillance laws in relation to a research dossier on Donald Trump's ties to Russia. That day, Republican Senator Steve King of Iowa tweeted that he had read the memo, claiming that it was "worse than Watergate" along with the hashtag "#ReleaseTheMemo" (shown below).[2] Within four days, the tweet received more than 67,000 likes and 45,800 replies.


Steve King @SteveKinglA I have read the memo. The sickening reality has set in. I no longer hold out hope there is an innocent explanation for the information the public has seen. I have long said it is worse than Watergate. It was #neverTrump & #always Hillary. #releasethememo

Spread

That same evening, Republican Congressman Mark Meadows of North Carolina posted a video of himself speaking on the House floor, along with the hashtag "#ReleaseTheMemo," which gained over 67,500 likes and 47,700 retweets (shown below).




Also on January 18th, the official Wikileaks Twitter[6] account posted a $1 million bounty for access to the memo (shown below).


WikiLeaks @wikileaks #ReleaseTheMemo: Do you know someone who has access to the FISA abuse memo? send them here: w.kileaks.org/#submit WikiLeaks will match reward funds up to $1m sent to this unique Bitcoin address: 3Q2KXS8WYT6dvr91bM2RjvBHqMyx9CbPMN or marked 'memo2018': wikileaks.org/donate :WikIleaKs.or

On January 19th, journalist Glenn Greenwald tweeted that those posting the "#ReleaseTheMemo" tweet should be directing their outrage toward Trump and the GOP for not declassifying the documents or revealing it "on the floor" (shown below). That day, the Associated Press[5] reported that "Russian networks" were pushing the #ReleaseTheMemo hashtag.


Glenn Greenwald @ggreenwald If you're someone who is madly tweeting #ReleaseTheMemo because you remotely believe the claims being made about it, you should be furious at Trump for not declassifying these documents, and even angrier at the GOP members for not using their immunity to reveal it on the floor.

#FindTheTexts

On January 20th, Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin released a letter claiming knowledge that the FBI could not locate text message correspondences between senior counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok and FBI Lawyer Lisa Page ranging from December 14th, 2016 to May 17th, 2017. The following day, Sean Hannity posted a tweet with the hashtags "#ReleaseTheMemo" and "#FindTheTexts" (shown below).[3]


Sean Hannity @seanhannity 1_ #ReleaseTheMemo. 2_ #FindTheTexts

Memo Release

On February 2nd, 2018, the four-page House Intelligence committee memo was released unredacted, which alleged abuse by the Justice Department and the FBI for surveillance of Trump campaign foreign policy adviser Carter Page (shown below).[8]



That day, Fox Business broadcast Trump's reaction to the memo's release, saying "I think it's a disagrace what's happening in our country" (shown below).



That day, "mega threads" about the memo were stickied on the front page of the /r/politics[9] and /r/The_Donald[10] subreddits.

Also on February 2nd, former FBI Director James Comey posted a reaction to the memo, referring to it as "dishonest and misleading" (shown below).[7]


James Comey @Comey That's it? Dishonest and misleading memo wrecked the House intel committee, destroyed trust with Intelligence Community, damaged relationship with FISA court, and inexcusably exposed classified investigation of an American citizen. For what? DOJ & FBI must keep doing their jobs.

Democrat Rebuttal

On February 24th, the House Intelligence Committee released a rebuttal to the Republican claims found in the meme. Representative Adam Schiff penned the memo, hoping to clarify, contradict and contextualize some of the elements missing from Nunes' memo.[11]

That day, Julian Sanchez, an expert on surveillance at the Cato Institute,[12] tweeted,[13] "First pass thoughts on the Dem response memo: This is a pretty thorough demolition of Nunes’ insinuations of impropriety by FBI/DOJ, which were pretty weak as it stands. Also clarifies that Steele’s reporting re: Page was eventually corroborated." The post (shown below) received more than 630 retweets and 1,600 likes.


First pass thoughts on the Dem response memo: This is a pretty thorough demolition of Nunes' insinuations of impropriety by FBI/DOJ, which were pretty weak as it stands. Also clarifies that Steele's reporting re: Page was eventually corroborated. justsecurity.org/wp-content/upl

The New York Times[13] posted "5 Takeaways From the Release of the Democratic Memo." Those takeaways included:

* The F.B.I. used only a small part of the information provided by Mr. Steele.
* The surveillance court knew that Mr. Steele’s clients had a political motive.
* The Yahoo News article was not used to corroborate Mr. Steele.
* Republican-appointed judges approved the surveillance of Mr. Page.
* The wiretap of Mr. Page generated useful intelligence.

That day, President Trump tweeted,[15] "The Democrat memo response on government surveillance abuses is a total political and legal BUST. Just confirms all of the terrible things that were done. SO ILLEGAL!" The post (shown below, left) received more than 20,000 retweets and 81,000 likes.

Later that day, Trump continued,[16] "The Democrat memo response on government surveillance abuses is a total political and legal BUST. Just confirms all of the terrible things that were done. SO ILLEGAL!" The post (shown below, center) received more than 20,000 retweets and 81,000 likes.

Representative Schiff responded to the president that day. He said, "Wrong again, Mr. President. It confirms the FBI acted appropriately and that Russian agents approached two of your advisors, and informed your campaign that Russia was prepared to help you by disseminating stolen Clinton emails." The post (shown below, right) received more than 27,000 retweets and 65,000 likes.


Donald J. Trump @realDonaldTrump The Democrat memo response on government surveillance abuses is a total political and legal BUST. Just confirms all of the terrible things that were done. SO ILLEGAL! Donald J. Trump Φ @realDonaldTrump The Democrat memo response on government surveillance abuses is a total political and legal BUST. Just confirms all of the terrible things that were done. SO ILLEGAL! Adam Schiff @RepAdamSchiff Wrong again, Mr. President. It confirms the FBl acted appropriately and that Russian agents approached two of your advisors, and informed your campaign that Russia was prepared to help you by disseminating stolen Clinton emails. Donald J. Trump. @realDonaldTrump The Democrat memo response on government surveillance abuses is a total political and legal BUST. Just confirms all of the terrible things that were done. SO ILLEGAL!

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