Devin Nunes’s memo actually refutes the core argument against the Russia investigation.

By: David French – nationalreview.com – February 2, 2018

From the moment that the so-called Steele dossier burst onto the public scene, thoughtful observers have wondered what role its “salacious and unverified” accusations played in the opening of the so-called Russia investigation, the counterintelligence inquiry into whether Trump officials “colluded” with Russians to defeat Hillary Clinton.

When news emerged that the dossier was the product of Clinton-campaign opposition research — laundered through a law firm — then the question got even more urgent. Was the entire investigation the fruit of the poisonous dossier? Did the FBI perhaps knowingly cooperate with Clinton operatives to launch an investigation with the (potential) intent to bring down a presidency?

At the end of last year, the New York Times published a furiously contested scoop claiming that the investigation actually began not because of the Steele dossier but rather because George Papadopoulos had popped up on the FBI’s radar. Here’s the Times:

During a night of heavy drinking at an upscale London bar in May 2016, George Papadopoulos, a young foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign, made a startling revelation to Australia’s top diplomat in Britain: Russia had political dirt on Hillary Clinton. . . .

. . . Exactly how much Mr. Papadopoulos said that night at the Kensington Wine Rooms with the Australian, Alexander Downer, is unclear. But two months later, when leaked Democratic emails began appearing online, Australian officials passed the information about Mr. Papadopoulos to their American counterparts, according to four current and former American and foreign officials with direct knowledge of the Australians’ role.

The Times claimed that this information “led the F.B.I. to open an investigation in July 2016 into Russia’s attempts to disrupt the election and whether any of President Trump’s associates conspired.”

Well, if the newly released Nunes memo is correct, House Republicans and the Trump administration just confirmed the Times’scoop. In the process, they blew up their core argument against the investigation. The investigation isn’t the fruit of the poisonous dossier (though the dossier did play a role); it existed before the dossier.

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Source: Nunes Memo’s Big Flaw: It Confirms a New York Times Story