Jacob Heilbrunn

The much-hyped Trump memo is a dreary defence of a nutjob

What was the fuss all about? The capital of the free world has been consumed with frenzied speculation about a memo compiled by the staff of Congressman Devin Nunes, who serves as the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, about the Russia probe. This, we were told by Republicans, would be “worse than Watergate.” Democrats said that its release would constitute a betrayal of the intelligence agencies.

Ho-hum. Anyone who can even wade through the four-page long memo without succumbing to the temptation to take a nap or a snifter of brandy has my highest compliments. It’s a dreary defence of a nut job named Carter Page who served on the Trump campaign, in some form or other, as an adviser. Page, who has been under surveillance since 2013 by American intelligence services following his contacts with members of the Russian SVR, tried to make a go of it in Moscow as a businessman before hooking up with the Trump campaign.

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