Let It All Out

Here is one of the very few objective and non-hyperbolic pieces I’ve read on the subject of the Nunes memo. The author maintains that the best approach is public release of all information relevant to the memo, subject to minimal redactions necessary to protect intelligence sources and methods. (He notes that, given Washington’s well-known penchant for overclassifying, it’s likely that a publicly releasable version providing the full context could be developed without impacting legitimate national security concerns.) This approach would afford the public the ability to draw its own conclusions based on consideration of the Nunes memo itself together with the contrasting viewpoints of the FBI and Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee. (The Democrats have already developed their rebuttal, which is being suppressed for now by Committee Republicans.)

He concludes, quite sensibly, that without such full disclosure, “we’re just taking the GOP’s word regarding what the memo argues or Democrats’ word that those arguments are bunk. The whole thing will devolve into a partisan poo-flinging contest that, I’d wager, even people with a more-than-casual interest in politics will quickly tune out.”