Alan Dershowitz on the Nunes memo: Republican ‘truth’ and Democratic ‘truth’, by Alan Dershowitz

Alan Dershowitz suggests that the actual FISA application that the House Intelligence Committee memo is based be released. It’s a good suggestion, However, he keeps suggesting that nonpartisan experts be brought into the process. Good luck finding one of those. From Dershowitz at theburningplatform.com:

The Republicans have now released the memo containing their version of what is in the controversial FSIA application. Not surprisingly, the Democrats have a different version. It should be easy to decide whose “truth” is more credible: Let the American public see the application itself — instead of second-hand, partisan accounts — and let us decide for ourselves.

The problem with that obvious solution is that the application is currently classified. But classification should never be used – as it often is – for political benefit or to protect agencies or individuals from just criticism. Let a nonpartisan expert decide what must be redacted for genuine security concerns, and let the remainder of the application be released.

We, the American people, have the right to know whether the application deliberately failed to disclose to the FISA court that the so-called “Steele dossier” was commissioned by political operatives seeking dirt on a political opponent. We are entitled to know how much weight, if any, was given to the dossier in the application.

The Republican memo, standing alone, raises questions about the process by which the warrants were obtained from the FISA court. The Democratic memo, if it is forthcoming, may purport to answer those questions. But it will never be able to answer them definitively without an objective assessment of the actual FISA application itself.

This episode strengthens the view I have long espoused that the entire enterprise of appointing a special counsel was misguided. Instead, Congress should have created a nonpartisan commission of objective experts to investigate all claims made by either party about any unfairness surrounding the 2016 presidential election. Nor are congressional committees an adequate substitute for a nonpartisan commission. Congressional committees by their nature are partisan, as evidenced by the dueling accounts of the FISA application.

To continue reading: Alan Dershowitz on the Nunes memo: Republican ‘truth’ and Democratic ‘truth’