Gowdy: Contents Of Nunes Memo ‘Do Not, In Any Way, Discredit’ Mueller Probe

on June 28, 2016 in Washington, DC.
WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 28: House Benghazi Committee Chairman, Trey Gowdy (R-SC), participates in a news conference with fellow Committee Republicans after the release of the Committee's Benghazi report on Capitol Hil... WASHINGTON, DC - JUNE 28: House Benghazi Committee Chairman, Trey Gowdy (R-SC), participates in a news conference with fellow Committee Republicans after the release of the Committee's Benghazi report on Capitol Hill June 28, 2016 in Washington, DC. U.S. Ambassador Chris Stevens and three others were killed during an attack on a U.S. outpost and CIA annex in Libya on September 11, 2012. (Photo by Mark Wilson/Getty Images) MORE LESS
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House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-SC) on Friday said that the public deserves to know how the so-called Trump dossier influenced the FBI’s decision to surveil a Trump campaign associate, but reiterated his support for special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe.

Gowdy tweeted that a Republican-authored memo, written by House Intelligence Committee Devin Nunes’ (R-CA) staff and released Friday, “raises serious concerns” about the FISA process.

The memo purports to show that FBI officials abused the FISA process to secure a warrant to surveil the Trump campaign’s former foreign policy adviser Carter Page.

Gowdy nevertheless said those concerns do not undermine Mueller’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election and whether the Trump campaign colluded with the foreign power for an advantage.

“As I have said repeatedly, I also remain 100 percent confident in special counsel Robert Mueller,” he tweeted. “The contents of this memo do not — in any way — discredit his investigation.”

The Washington Post reported on Friday that Gowdy was unintentionally influential in President Donald Trump’s decision to declassify the document.

Before he decided to release the document publicly, according to the Washington Post, Trump “became particularly excited” about the memo after he watched an interview Gowdy gave on CNN where he advocated for the memo’s release.

The House Intelligence Committee voted along party lines Monday evening to release the document and passed the buck to Trump to determine whether to declassify it. Trump, who called the contents of the memo “terrible,” declassified the document Friday afternoon, and it was released shortly afterward.

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