# Can someone break down this whole Nunes Memo thing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [January 23, 2018, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308 "2018-01-23T16:50:14Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308/1 "2018-01-23T16:50:14Z")
Because all I’m hearing is the noise. Can someone lay out the basics of this for me? So, Nunes has a memo. (Um, I’ve got a whole stack of memos on my desk.) Start from the who what when where, please? The noise is all about “IT’S EXPLOSIVE! IT’S GOING TO CHANGE THE HISTORY OF THE UNIVERSE!” Then there is the noise about “RELEASE THE MEMO!” But no, they are not going to release it, they’re only going to tell you that “IT’S EXPLOSIVE!” rinse and repeat. BUT MAYBE THEY ARE GOING TO RELEASE IT! But maybe not! As I said, all I’m hearing is the noise. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Amazing](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@Captain\_Amazing](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Amazing)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308/2 "2018-01-23T17:23:45Z")
The story, in brief, is that Nunes and a bunch of Rpublicans on the House Intelligence Committee had a secret working group (which they didn’t invite Democrats to) to investigate whether the FBI tried to interfere in the 2016 election to get Hillary elected. The working group then wrote a memo that Nunes is saying is proof that the FBI and the Obama Justice Department did bad things for Hillary, but he won’t release the memo or give it to the Justice Department because the FBI and Justice Department is full of Deep State people who hate Trump and will try to bury it. ---
**Author:** ![Celidin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Celidin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celidin)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 5:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308/3 "2018-01-23T17:31:49Z")
> [@Captain\_Amazing](#): > > The story, in brief, is that Nunes and a bunch of Rpublicans on the House Intelligence Committee had a secret working group (which they didn’t invite Democrats to) to investigate whether the FBI tried to interfere in the 2016 election to get Hillary elected. The working group then wrote a memo that Nunes is saying is proof that the FBI and the Obama Justice Department did bad things for Hillary, but he won’t release the memo or give it to the Justice Department because the FBI and Justice Department is full of Deep State people who hate Trump and will try to bury it. And there’s a lot of noise around the “Release the Memo” hashtag because it’s being pushed to the top of the Twitter Charts by Russian bots. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 5:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308/4 "2018-01-23T17:36:50Z")
So Nunes et. al. wrote a memo, and then said “I have a memo!” So, why wouldn’t he just present the memo to the world? What’s the reasoning behind “I have a memo, but I’m not gonna show it to you”? ---
**Author:** ![Randolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Randolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Randolph)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308/5 "2018-01-23T17:37:31Z")
_“I have here in my hand a list of 205—a list of names that were made known to the Secretary of State as being members of the Communist Party and who nevertheless are still working and shaping policy in the State Department.”_ - Joseph McCarthy ---
**Author:** ![BeenJammin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beenjammin/32/448_2.png) [@BeenJammin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeenJammin)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 5:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308/6 "2018-01-23T17:41:04Z")
We already know Clinton’s lawyers paid for the Russian intel dossier. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your POV, money usually leaves a fairly distinct trail. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308/7 "2018-01-23T17:47:34Z")
> [@BeenJammin](#): > > We already know Clinton’s lawyers paid for the Russian intel dossier. Fortunately or unfortunately depending on your POV, money usually leaves a fairly distinct trail. And how is this pertinent? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308/8 "2018-01-23T17:52:15Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > And how is this pertinent? Distraction! ---
**Author:** ![BeenJammin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beenjammin/32/448_2.png) [@BeenJammin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeenJammin)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308/9 "2018-01-23T17:56:44Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > And how is this pertinent? I thought we were trying to untangle some massive web of political, criminal deception? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308/10 "2018-01-23T18:16:09Z")
> [@BeenJammin](#): > > I thought we were trying to untangle some massive web of political, criminal deception? 😕 No-The topic is the Nunes memo. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 6:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308/11 "2018-01-23T18:20:18Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > So Nunes et. al. wrote a memo, and then said “I have a memo!” So, why wouldn’t he just present the memo to the world? What’s the reasoning behind “I have a memo, but I’m not gonna show it to you”? Supposedly, it contains a bunch of classified information in it. (It is also, apparently, only four pages long and is almost certainly a worse version on the same subject that Inspector General Michael Horowitz has been investigating since January of last year. To the extent that there’s value in that investigation, it’s better to wait for the real version.) ---
**Author:** ![BeenJammin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beenjammin/32/448_2.png) [@BeenJammin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeenJammin)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308/12 "2018-01-23T18:30:01Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > No-The topic is the Nunes memo. And you believe this is not related? ---
**Author:** ![andros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e480ec/32.png) [@andros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/andros)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308/13 "2018-01-23T18:38:59Z")
Buttery mails. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 6:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308/14 "2018-01-23T18:44:48Z")
> [@BeenJammin](#): > > And you believe this is not related? It’s irrelevant. Sessions had to recuse himself from the Russia investigation because he was part of the Trump campaign. Devin Nunes should also be conflicted out of taking part of any investiation regarding Russia, as he was on the [executive committee for the Trump transition team](https://nunes.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=398673). What we see is that Jeff Sessions is upholding higher ethical standards than Nunes and the entire Republican House Leadership, which is a shocking thing of anyone stopped to think about it for a second. ---
**Author:** ![elucidator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8edcca/32.png) [@elucidator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/elucidator)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308/15 "2018-01-23T18:45:19Z")
> **[Republicans won't #ReleaseTheMemo to Justice Department—because it's a gift...](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/1/23/1735286/-Republicans-won-t-ReleaseTheMemo-to-Justice-Department-because-it-s-a-gift-for-Trump)** > > Last week Republicans came up with an entirely new means of creating a “scandal.” Rep. Devin Nunes concocted a memo, and his fellow House Republicans sobbed that it was ‘heartbreaking.’ Fox News declared it ‘bigger than Watergate.’ Then Republicans... _Daily Kos_ has a fairly concise breakdown of the basics. Liberal cooties abound, of course, but you already know that. One angle I hadn’t seen before or thought of is how this plays into Il Douche’s hopes to remove the top FBI and replace with more reasonable and compliant. ---
**Author:** ![Fiveyearlurker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/da6949/32.png) [@Fiveyearlurker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiveyearlurker)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308/16 "2018-01-23T19:01:00Z")
The fact that they’ve refused to show this memo to the FBI, but [Alex Jones now says he has a copy](https://twitter.com/RealAlexJones/status/955856331436683264) tells you all that you need to know. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 7:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308/17 "2018-01-23T19:14:52Z")
If the FBI was trying to get Hillary elected why did they do such a craptastically terrible job at it? Comey announcing in late October that Hillary was being investigated again was part of some master plan to get her elected? The whole theory makes no sense except to divert attention away from the Trump campaign shenanigans and to delegitimize the FBI. Also the Russian dossier was originally paid for by Republicans, before the Dems coughed up for it, so it’s doubly irrelevant. ---
**Author:** ![Icarus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icarus/32/72_2.png) [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308/18 "2018-01-23T19:15:35Z")
> [@elucidator](#): > > [Republicans won't #ReleaseTheMemo to Justice Department—because it's a gift for Trump](https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2018/1/23/1735286/-Republicans-won-t-ReleaseTheMemo-to-Justice-Department-because-it-s-a-gift-for-Trump) > > _Daily Kos_ has a fairly concise breakdown of the basics. Liberal cooties abound, of course, but you already know that. One angle I hadn’t seen before or thought of is how this plays into Il Douche’s hopes to remove the top FBI and replace with more reasonable and compliant. Thank you, that helps lay out some of the moving parts. And it does also illuminate where **BeenJammin’s** comments are coming from. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308/19 "2018-01-23T19:31:36Z")
> [@Icarus](#): > > And it does also illuminate where **BeenJammin’s** comments are coming from. I’m guessing a proxy server somewhere in metropolitan Minsk. ---
**Author:** ![Bone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bone/32/407_2.png) [@Bone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bone)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2018, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308/20 "2018-01-23T19:51:00Z")
> [@jayjay](#): > > I’m guessing a proxy server somewhere in metropolitan Minsk. Knock it off. Accusations of trolling are not permitted in this forum and this is riding the line. [/moderating] [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/can-someone-break-down-this-whole-nunes-memo-thing/807308.md?page=2)