Hillary’s emails v Nunes secret report

link

The memo in question is the Nunes, very cherrypick memo of classified information.  It would appear trump may be getting a little desperate.

The Washington Post...

“Trump sought release of classified Russia memo, putting him at odds with Justice Department”

From the article....

On Wednesday, as Republicans were clamoring to make public a secret document that they think will undercut the investigation into Russian meddling, President Trump made clear his desire: release the memo.

Trump's directive was at odds with his own Justice Department, which had warned that releasing the classified memo written by congressional Republicans would be "extraordinarily reckless" without an official review. Nevertheless, White House chief of staff John F. Kelly relayed the president's view to Attorney General Jeff Sessions — though the decision to release the document ultimately lies with Congress.

Kelly and Sessions spoke twice that day — in person during a small-group afternoon meeting and in a phone call later that evening, and Kelly conveyed Trump's desire, a senior administration official said.

Trump and his Republican allies have placed special emphasis on the classified memo, which was written by staff for House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) and suggests that the FBI may have relied on politically motivated or questionable sources to justify its request for a secret surveillance warrant in the investigation's early phase. Democrats have characterized the memo as misleading talking points designed to smear the FBI and said it inaccurately summarizes investigative materials that are also classified.

Trump "is inclined to have that released just because it will shed light," said a senior administration official who was speaking on the condition of anonymity to recount private conversations. "Apparently all the rumors are that it will shed light, it will help the investigators come to a conclusion."

The intervention with Sessions, which has not previously been reported, marked another example of the president's year-long attempts to shape and influence an investigation that is fundamentally outside his control. Trump, appearing frustrated and at times angry, has complained to confidants and aides in recent weeks that he does not understand why he cannot simply give orders to "my guys" at what he sometimes calls the "Trump Justice Department," two people familiar with the president's comments said.

Such complaints, and Trump's repeated attempts to pressure senior law enforcement officials through firings or other means, has now become one of the main focuses of the investigation — including an order last summer to fire special counsel Robert S. Mueller III that prompted White House counsel Donald McGahn to threaten to quit before Trump backed down.

Trump recently revived his complaints that Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein was not properly supervising Mueller's probe and suggested he should fire Rosenstein — a highly controversial action against the person officially overseeing the special counsel's investigation, an adviser who speaks frequently with Trump said.

The president also made clear in recent days that he hopes new questions facing the investigation allow him or his associates to make changes at the Justice Department, two people familiar with Trump's comments said.

 The president has told close advisers that the memo is starting to make people realize how the FBI and the Mueller probe is biased against him and that it could provide him with grounds for either firing or forcing Rosenstein to leave, according to one person familiar with his remarks. He has privately derided Rosenstein as "the Democrat from Baltimore." Rosenstein is not a Democrat. He was appointed as a U.S. attorney in Maryland by President George W. Bush and later renominated for that post by President Barack Obama.

One senior White House official said he personally had not heard the president make comments about getting rid of Rosenstein, which were first reported by CNN.

A spokesman for the Justice Department declined to comment.

As Mueller narrows his probe — homing in on the ways Trump may have tried to impede the Russia investigation — a common thread ties many of the incidents together: A president accustomed to functioning as the executive of a private family business who does not seem to understand that his subordinates have sworn an oath to the Constitution rather than to him.

On Wednesday, speaking briefly to reporters, Trump defended his actions in the probe as "fighting back" against unfair allegations. "Oh, well, 'Did he fight back?' " Trump said. "You fight back, 'Oh, it's obstruction.' "

The Russia probe has also figured prominently in Trump's souring relationships with some former allies and confidants. Trump first became enraged with Sessions after the attorney general recused himself from overseeing the Russia investigation, which Trump thinks led to the appointment of Mueller. Later, after his former chief strategist, Stephen K. Bannon, accused Trump's eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., and son-in-law, Jared Kushner, of a "treasonous" and "unpatriotic" meeting with a Russian lawyer in a new book, the furious president cast Bannon out of his orbit, as