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Donald Trump has already declared himself "totally" vindicated by the sham memo released Friday and written by his stooge, Rep. Devin Nunes, a "Great American Hero," in Trump's view.
Now that GOP lawmakers have sold everyone who would listen a bill of goods and Trump's zealots have slurped up every last bit of Kool-Aid, GOP lawmakers on the House Intelligence Committee appear poised to vote Monday night for release of the Democratic effort to debunk the mythology Nunes cooked up. CNN writes:
Amanda Gonzalez, a spokeswoman for Rep. Trey Gowdy, confirmed that the South Carolina Republican would vote Monday to release the Democratic memo.
"Rep. Gowdy supports the exact same process for the minority memo as he did the majority memo," Gonzalez said.
Rep. Pete King, a Republican who helped lead the push to declassify the Nunes memo, also plans to vote in favor of releasing the Democratic memo, according to King spokesman Kevin Fogarty.
"Yes," Fogarty said when asked if King would vote to release the Democratic memo Monday, "assuming there is no national security issue, which he assumes there won't be."
Gowdy, the only GOP panel member to actually view the intelligence, spent the weekend feverishly trying to insulate the Russia probe from the Nunes memo he helped create. He also announced his retirement last week, freeing himself to perhaps act with some bit of conscience. Whatever the case, he appears a bit bewildered that Nunes and others are using the memo to smear the FBI, DOJ, and Robert Mueller's probe. Seriously, now—how could Gowdy have failed to see that train wreck coming? Nunes has been Trump's errand boy ever since the transition.
Anyway, the big mystery is what Trump will do if/when the Democratic truth serum lands on his desk and he has five days to declassify.
A senior administration official told CNN Monday that it would be a mistake to presume Trump has made a decision on the matter one way or the other.
Yeah, right. Yet Trump spent Monday morning painting the author of the Democratic memo, Rep. Adam Schiff, as the devil incarnate.
Honestly, this could get interesting. And get ready for a round of stories, sourced by a couple of dozen leakers inside the White House, that depict Trump raging alone in the residence about the Schiff memo and all the coverage of it.
And if Trump decides not to declassify, a full vote of the House could reportedly overrule him if the Intelligence committee approves such a vote.