ReleaseTheMemo finally happened.
But despite all the hype, Washington’s pretty much exactly where it was 24 hours ago: locked in bitterly partisan trench warfare. If anything, the release of the memo Friday, over protests from the FBI and the Department of Justice, just seemed to turn up the political animus to 11 and harden everyone’s pre-existing position.Democrats see a president attempting to obstruct an investigation. Some Republicans including the president are even more convinced of a deep state conspiracy undermining the Trump administration. Other Republicans are embarrassed by their colleagues and wish everyone would just focus on selling tax reform. And the intelligence community is frustrated at being disparaged and made into a scapegoat by the president they serve.Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement
And Trump’s appointed FBI Director Christopher Wray sent an email to all bureau employees Friday evening telling them, “I stand with you.” He continued with a rebuke of partisan attackers, saying “talking is cheap; the work you do is what will endure.”Democrats, for their part, reacted with their familiar mix of outrage at the turn of events and resignation at their inability to do much to prevent them.Ten of the leading Democrats in Washington then banded together to write a letter sternly warning that Trump better not use the memo to justify firing people involved with the Russia investigation, such as special counsel Robert Mueller or Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.“We write to inform you that we would consider such an unwarranted action as an attempt to obstruct justice in the Russia investigation,” they wrote.But it’s not clear what effect that will have on Trump.Asked if he still has confidence in Rosenstein and if the memo would make it more likely for him to fire the deputy attorney general, Trump responded: “You figure that one out.”Cover image: U.S. President Donald Trump, flanked by Secretary of Homeland Security Kirstjen Nielsen, holds a meeting at the U.S. Customs and Border Protection's National Targeting Centre in Sterling, Virginia, U.S. February 2, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst