Top Dem issues rebuttal to GOP memo

Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-N.Y.) has issued a rebuttal to a memo alleging the FBI used the unverified dossier on President TrumpDonald John TrumpSchiff: Nunes gave Trump 'secretly altered' version of memo Davis: ‘Deep state’ existed in ’16 – but it elected Trump Former Trump legal spokesman to testify to Mueller about undisclosed call: report MORE in part to secure a surveillance warrant for Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, NBC News reports.

“Carter Page was, more likely than not, an agent of a foreign power. The Department of Justice thought so. A federal judge agreed. The consensus, supported by the facts, forms the basis of the warrant issued,” Nadler writes in the rebuttal of the memo orchestrated by House Intelligence Chairman Devin NunesDevin Gerald NunesSchumer: Nunes intent on undermining 'rule of law' with altered memo Schiff: Nunes gave Trump 'secretly altered' version of memo Former GOP rep rips Nunes over memo: He's chair of Trump's reelection campaign MORE (R-Calif.)

“The Nunes memo alleges nothing that would even come close to meeting this standard,” he continued, referencing arguments that the warrant should be voided. 

According to NBC, Nadler's rebuttal says the memo does not show the government lacked evidence to get a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant on Page and that former MI6 agent Christopher Steele, who compiled the dossier, had knowledge on Russia that would have trumped concerns a FISA court would have about the funding of the dossier. 

The dossier was funded in part by former Democratic nominee Hillary ClintonHillary Diane Rodham ClintonDavis: ‘Deep state’ existed in ’16 – but it elected Trump Former Trump legal spokesman to testify to Mueller about undisclosed call: report WSJ: Agents' texts reveal McCabe knew of Clinton emails for at least a month MORE's campaign and the Democratic National Committee. 

Nadler said the Nunes memo “provides no credible basis whatsoever” for removing Deputy Attorney General Rod RosensteinRod Jay RosensteinOvernight Cybersecurity: GOP, FBI clash over FISA memo | Uber breach under Senate scrutiny | Upcoming House cyber diplomacy hearing Trump asked Rosenstein about Russia probe, if he was on Trump's 'team': report Nunes fires back at FBI for 'spurious objections' to memo release MORE, and shows Republicans “are now part and parcel to an organized effort to obstruct” special counsel Robert MuellerRobert Swan MuellerSasse: US should applaud choice of Mueller to lead Russia probe MORE's probe into alleged ties between the Trump campaign and Russia's election meddling. 

Nunes's memo, which was made public on Friday, says the FBI's counterintelligence investigation into whether Trump campaign officials had improper contacts with Russia was triggered by information the bureau obtained about former Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos. 

Allies of Trump had previously said it was the dossier that triggered the probe. 

The memo alleges that the FBI used the dossier, in part, to obtain surveillance warrants for Page after the counterintelligence probe began.