Explainer: what is the Republican memo about and is it telling the truth?
Is the Republican memo telling the truth about the FBI and DOJ’s Trump-Russia probe - and what does this mean for America? The answers are all here
A newly released memo – crafted by House Republicans and released with the blessing of US President Donald Trump – accuses the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) of misleading a judge so it could spy on a Trump campaign adviser for its Russia probe.
Democrats say the memo could be used as a pretext to fire people involved in Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation, which would precipitate a “constitutional crisis”.
Here’s what the memo says, why it matters, and what’s known about whether it’s accurate …
The dossier
The claim: Republicans assert that officials relied primarily on an unverified dossier prepared by former British spy Christopher Steele to obtain a surveillance warrant on Carter Page, a foreign policy adviser on Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign.
“Deputy Director McCabe testified before the committee in December 2017 that no surveillance warrant would have been sought from the FISC without the Steele dossier information,” the memo said, referring to FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who stepped down from that job earlier this week.
