#ReleaseTheMemo: How the Memo Will Be Released With FBI Approval
Prior to the government shut down last week, news spread rapidly of a classified memo derived from the House Intelligence Committee proving egregious abuses of power regarding the Obama administration, surveillance and the FISA warrant against the Trump presidential campaign. Representative Matt Gaetz told Fox News, “I believe there are people who will go to jail.”
Public interest peaked as several representatives across the country continuously underscored the importance of its contents. Reports circulated that the memo could potentially shut down the Mueller investigation. Congressman Steve King calls the scandal “Worse than Watergate.”
The Text Messages:
Rep. Gaetz says he believes upon reviewing the memo in conjunction with disgraced FBI agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page text messages “the picture becomes very clear.” The text messages reportedly contained within them a plot to cause physical harm to Trump, an “insurance policy” incase he was elected, and ‘secret society meetings’ at an undisclosed location after the President was elected.
Recently, however, it has been reported that 50,000 of the Strzok and Page messages seem to have ‘disappeared’ from the FBI database. The public was outraged, citing the similarities between these texts and the disappearance of the 33,000 Hillary Clinton emails during her FBI investigation.
Senator Ron Johnson immediately dispersed a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray explaining his concerns on the missing text messages. Johnson cites one archived conversation in which Agent Strzok mentions another agent, James Rybicki. According to the text, Rybicki ensured President Obama’s name was omitted during James Comey’s public statement on July 5, 2016.
(https://www.scribd.com/document/369669775/Senator-Ron-Johnson-Letter-to-FBI-Director-Christopher-Wray)
Rybicki was chief of staff to former Director Comey and remained chief of staff to FBI Director Wray until just recently. Three days after these messages resurfaced, it was announced that Agent Rybicki would be leaving the bureau.
While some have accused Trump appointed Director Wray of being a “black hat” it seems, to his credit, he handled compromised agent Rybicki swiftly. It is also important to note the timing of Rybicki’s departure from the FBI, as it came immediately following the deletion of the text messages.
When asked if FBI Director Wray threatened to resign, Trump responded,
“No he didn't at all. Not even a little bit. Nope. And he’s going to do a good job.”
Trump has also stated previously he is confident Wray can fight the ‘Deep State.’
When pressed on the matter, Press Secretary Sanders reiterates:
“He [Trump] certainly has 100% confidence in Director Wray. That’s why he put him there. He feels like he is the right person to lead in the FBI. We’re not going to let a few bad actors tarnish the entire group.”
It seems Director Wray is still on President Trump’s side, despite recent rumors.
The Strategy:
Democrats swiftly disregarded the memo as political disinformation stemming from Republican Rep. Devin Nunes. Congressman Adam Schiff states the public “may not be able to understand it.” Schiff and Senator Feinstein proceeded to send a letter to social media sites Facebook and Twitter claiming it was not Americans demanding to see the memo, but rather “Russian-bots” making the #ReleaseTheMemo campaign go viral.
Upon review, the White House distanced itself from the memo, claiming the House committee can decide whether or not to declassify for public view.
Afterwards, in a letter to Rep. Nunes, Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd claims the release of the memo without proper FBI and DOJ review would be “extraordinarily reckless.” It is important to recall that Boyd is also a Trump appointee.
Currently, the public perceives the White House and DOJ to be preventing the release of the memo. But are Trump and Sessions’ DOJ attempting to prevent the release permanently, for nefarious reasons? Unlikely.
This leaves another option on the table.
While it is true President Trump can easily declassify the document, he cannot do so should he want the memo to be widely received. While Trump supporters would undoubtedly believe the released contents, it is essential to keep in mind the rest of the public must also find it believable.
The opposition has all but shouted from the rooftops that this memo is entirely politicized. Recently, they even devised their own “Counter-Memo.”
Since the memo allegedly proves Barack Obama committed espionage against Donald Trump of course Trump would want it to be released, but it has to be done strategically. The strategy, in order to have maximum impact, must be to put pressure on the FBI to review the contents and openly verify it. If FBI Director Wray is indeed a “white hat” this would be a fairly simple task with no pressure needed.
When the document is approved by the FBI, it would be incredibly bad optics for Democrats to still claim it is “disinformation.” If they did so, they would be effectively accusing the FBI of lying after years of proclaiming how prestigious the agency is.
Thus, once the FBI provides verification, the Democrats, Mainstream Media and the vast majority of the public will regard the memo as true; and public opinion on Barack Obama would decline to new lows.
Donald Trump wins, again.
