The House Republicans’ “Nunes memo” is now little more than a punch-line to a sad joke. The document was intended to help Donald Trump and his political operation, but it actually left the president and other Republicans worse off than they were before. Assorted GOP partisans predicted the document would dramatically alter the political landscape, but its relevance quickly evaporated.
And yet, Trump World isn’t quite ready to let it go. Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced yesterday that the Justice Department’s inspector general will examine the Republican memo’s claims, exploring whether there were any abuses in surveillance of those in Trump’s orbit.
This seems wildly unnecessary since the Nunes memo presented no credible proof of wrongdoing, but for Donald Trump, the IG’s investigation isn’t nearly enough. Here was this morning’s odd presidential missive:
“Why is A.G. Jeff Sessions asking the Inspector General to investigate potentially massive FISA abuse. Will take forever, has no prosecutorial power and already late with reports on Comey etc. Isn’t the I.G. an Obama guy? Why not use Justice Department lawyers? DISGRACEFUL!”
There are actually a few interesting aspects to this. The first is, Trump is pointing to “massive” FISA abuses that do not appear to exist. He clearly wants to believe those abuses are real, but what the president chooses to accept as fact and actual facts are often very different.
Second, it’s true that the Justice Department’s IG, Michael Horowitz, took office in 2012, but Trump’s apparent belief that only Republican officials can be trusted within the executive branch is impossible to take seriously.
Third, the frequency with which this president expects the Justice Department to go after his perceived political adversaries would be a genuine national scandal in a normal administration.









