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Incidentally, I'm not sure the content of the memos really matters. Trump's tweets have nothing to do with what the memo actually says.

I think his goal is to make the investigation look like partisan political drama. That's precisely what the memos look like, and to the average American, that can make it feel like the actual investigation is the same as the drama they see in Twitter and in the unfolding of the memos. Clever publicity move.

Meanwhile, the actual investigation grinds on quietly in the background.

And some people still wonder where the press gets it's reputation of producing fake news from. The press really is quite one sided and they wonder why they are losing influence.

The press’s silence on the matter lets Trump set the narrative and use these revelations to his own advantage.

It’s quite something to watch the left and the intelligentsia play right into Trump’s hands. It’s almost like they can’t help themselves.

Josh wrote:The press’s silence on the matter lets Trump set the narrative and use these revelations to his own advantage.

It’s quite something to watch the left and the intelligentsia play right into Trump’s hands. It’s almost like they can’t help themselves.

I have noticed this as well. It is almost like they cannot help themselves.

Josh wrote:The press’s silence on the matter lets Trump set the narrative and use these revelations to his own advantage.

The real investigation is mostly silent, the press on all sides is reporting what leaks they can find. I remember going through this with Watergate and the Iran-Contra affair and Monica Lewinsky. We'll be surprised by some important things when the investigation is completed. There's a lot the public will never know.

Josh wrote:It’s quite something to watch the left and the intelligentsia play right into Trump’s hands. It’s almost like they can’t help themselves.

This really should not be a trial by media where the public can't see the basic information because it is classified, one side of the media is the prosecution, and the other side is the defense.

Maybe the problem here is secret courts particularly FISA, which now are being used for political purposes.

I'd put myself as a mix of #1 and #3. I think the memo was a purely partisan effort to discredit the investigation, but I do not have firm conclusions of what will be the results of the investigation; I can wait on that.

Josh wrote:Maybe the problem here is secret courts particularly FISA, which now are being used for political purposes.

I do think there are issues with FISA and protections for the privacy of citizens. But the Republican-led Congress just reauthorized FISA in January, Devin Nunes introduced the bill that reauthorized FISA, and President Trump signed it. If you go to that link, you can see a list of proposed amendments that Congress chose not to adopt, and there is a bipartisan group of Congressmen who formally objected - Rand Paul, Ron Wyden, Patrick Leahy, and Michael Lee. If the Republicans wanted change FISA, this was the time to do it, and they would have had some support from Democrats.

But this investigation is being done and authorized mostly by Republicans, not Democrats. The Trump Administration appointed Rod Rosenstein, who appointed Bob Mueller, who is conducting the investigation - after James Comey, a lifelong Republican, was fired. Every single judge on the FISA court is appointed by Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who was nominated by George Bush and is generally considered a conservative with strong Republican leanings. The judges he appoints are basically all Republicans who share his views on civil liberties, which can sometimes be different from those of other justices on the Supreme Court.

And the FISA courts do not hear the cases, they give the government search warrants and permission to spy on specific people who are under suspicion:

The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court was established by Congress in 1978. The Court entertains applications made by the United States Government for approval of electronic surveillance, physical search, and certain other forms of investigative actions for foreign intelligence purposes.

When Mueller releases his report, Congress decides whether there is enough evidence to impeach the president. The FISA courts have no input on that.

Partisan instincts on either side want to predispose the results. Non-partisans and moderates see the accusations of collusion and the Muller process as reasonably credible - and are content to wait for the results before passing judgement.