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About East Oregonian : E.O. (Pendleton, OR) 1888-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 7, 2018)
Page 4A East Oregonian Wednesday, February 7, 2018 KATHRYN B. BROWN Publisher DANIEL WATTENBURGER Managing Editor TIM TRAINOR Opinion Page Editor Founded October 16, 1875 OTHER VIEWS Nunes’ nothingburger G ertrude Stein once said of campaign) on opposition research her hometown of Oakland, on Trump. The memo also claims California, “There is no there this relationship was not disclosed to there.” That about says it for Devin the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Nunes’ notorious memo, too. Court when the Justice Department By this I do not mean that applied for a surveillance warrant on Nunes, R-Calif., chairman of the Page. House Intelligence Committee, has That’s a significant omission uncovered no potential wrongdoing that already seems to have led to Bret in his 3 ½-page memo, which was Stephens Ohr’s demotion, according to Fox declassified Friday over vehement News. Then again, the Nunes memo Comment objections from senior FBI and has its own “material omissions,” Justice Department officials. More according to an adamant and about the possible wrongdoing in a moment. enraged FBI. Who do you find more The important questions, however, are: credible: Nunes or FBI Director Christopher First, did the FBI have solid reasons Wray? to suspect that people in Donald Trump’s Nor does the Nunes memo claim that campaign had unusual, dangerous and the information provided by the FBI to the possibly criminal ties to Moscow? foreign intelligence court was, in fact, false. Second, did this suspicion warrant The closest it gets is a quote from ex-FBI surveillance and investigation by the FBI? Director James Comey saying the Steele The answers are yes and yes, and nothing dossier was “salacious and unverified,” and in the Nunes memo changes that — except then noting the anti-Trump bias of various to provide the president with a misleading officials involved in the case. pretext to fire deputy attorney general Rod Come again? The Stormy Daniels Rosenstein and discredit Robert Mueller’s story is also salacious and almost probe. certainly accurate. “Unverified” is not a Let’s review. Paul Manafort, the Trump synonym for “untrue.” And since when do pundits who make a living from their campaign chairman until August 2016, is opinions automatically equate “bias” with credibly alleged to have received $12.7 dishonesty? million in “undisclosed cash payments” The larger inanity here is the notion from then-Ukrainian President Viktor that the FBI tried to throw the election to Yanukovych, a Russian stooge. Had Clinton, when it was the Democrats who Manafort not been exposed, he might have complained bitterly at the time that the gone on to occupy a position of trust in the opposite was true. Trump administration, much as Reagan “It has become clear that you possess campaign manager Bill Casey wound up explosive information about close ties and running the CIA. He would then have been coordination between Donald Trump, his easy prey to Russian blackmail. George Papadopoulos, the young adviser top advisers and the Russian government,” who pleaded guilty last year to lying to Harry Reid, then the Senate minority leader, the FBI, spent his time on the campaign angrily wrote to James Comey in late trying to make overtures to Russia. In May October 2016. “The public has a right to 2016 he blabbed to an Australian diplomat know this information.” that Moscow had political dirt on Hillary Maybe so. But the G-Men kept quiet Clinton — information that proved true and about their investigations, and Trump was passed on to U.S. intelligence. This was won the election. How that represents the genesis of an FBI counterintelligence evidence of a sinister deep-state conspiracy investigation, as the Nunes memo itself is a question for morons to ponder. As admits. for Devin Nunes, he has, to adapt an old And then there’s Carter Page, the man line, produced evidence of a conspiracy at the center of the Nunes memo. By so small. In modern parlance we’d call it a turns stupid (his Ph.D. thesis was twice nothingburger, but the bun is missing, too. rejected), self-important (he has compared ■ himself to the Rev. Martin Luther King Bret Stephens in a columnist for the New Jr.), and money-hungry (a suspected York Times. Russian agent who tried to recruit him in 2013 was recorded saying he “got hooked on Gazprom”), Page happens also to be highly sympathetic to the Putin regime. The Russian phrase for such characters is polezni durak — useful idiot. No wonder he was invited to give a commencement speech at a Russian university in summer 2016. That’s how assets are cultivated in the world of intelligence. Given the profile and his relative proximity to team Trump, it would have been professionally negligent of the FBI not to keep tabs on him. Yet the bureau obtained a surveillance warrant only after Page had left the campaign and shortly before the election, and it insisted throughout the campaign that Trump was not a target of investigation. How that represents an affront to American democracy is anyone’s guess. The memo does seem to have uncovered conflicts of interest at the Justice Department, most seriously by then- Associate Deputy Attorney General Bruce Ohr, whose wife was working for Fusion GPS (and thus, by extension, the Clinton Republicans and those ‘attacks’ on the FBI he news is filled with reports recent are several who contracted that Republicans in Washington serious illnesses while aiding are “attacking” the FBI over the recovery efforts in Washington, New Trump-Russia investigation. York and Pennsylvania immediately The Washington Post recently after the September 11 terrorist compiled a collection of statements attacks. by GOP lawmakers under the That kind of selflessness and heading “Republicans launch attack dedication is clearly not what after attack on the FBI.” The New Republicans are criticizing. Byron York Times ran a news analysis What Republicans are York headlined “Trump’s Unparalleled condemning is the FBI leadership’s Comment War on a Pillar of Society: Law conduct in the Trump and Clinton Enforcement.” probes. For example, in the case Those words have been echoed many, of the much-discussed House Intelligence many times by various talking heads on Committee memo released last week, television. Republicans (accurately) portrayed an FBI But have Republicans really been leadership that made common cause with an attacking the FBI? The bureau is a big opposition research project paid for by the organization — about 35,000 people. It Hillary Clinton campaign right in the middle does many different things. A more accurate of a 2016 presidential election — and then way to describe what Republicans are ferociously resisted congressional oversight. doing is that they are condemning the FBI An agency that does that can expect some leadership’s handling of two of the most criticism, if its actions ever come to light. heavily politicized investigations in years “It’s quite obvious that the Intelligence — the Trump-Russia probe and the Hillary Committee is only questioning the decisions Clinton email investigation. All that proves made by a small number of FBI officials is that when law enforcement wades into at the highest levels,” said committee politics, it becomes the target of sometimes spokesman Jack Langer. “In fact, we’ve intense political criticism. been hearing from a large number of FBI That is an entirely different thing from employees, both active and retired, who have asked us to continue the oversight work attacking the FBI as an institution or we’re doing.” attacking the role it plays in government. For all the good it does, the FBI has The FBI does enormously valuable, sometimes heroic things. It breaks up terrorist made some horrendous mistakes. After the post-9/11 anthrax attacks, for example, the rings and catches killers and bank robbers bureau focused its search for the perpetrator and kidnappers and embezzlers and all sorts on an Army scientist named Steven Hatfill. of bad actors in our society. It investigates complex crimes that victimize large numbers There was a lot of pressure on the FBI of Americans. Its agents sometimes give their to solve the case, and there was a lot of headquarters involvement. But Hatfill was lives to protect the public. innocent. Nevertheless, the FBI chased him The FBI has a Hall of Honor that relentlessly, destroying his reputation and recognizes agents who have been killed in ability to make a living. Only after years the line of duty. Thirty-six agents have been did the FBI turn toward another suspect, killed “as the result of a direct adversarial who killed himself before charges could be force or at or by the hand of an adversary.” The most recent was murdered in 2008 while filed. The FBI had to pay Hatfill millions in damages. executing an arrest warrant on violent drug The bureau, led by then-director Robert traffickers in Pennsylvania. Mueller, didn’t seem terribly sorry about Another 30 FBI employees are honored it. When the Justice Department “formally for having died in the performance of their exonerated Hatfill, and paid him $5.82 duty, although not necessarily in direct million in a legal settlement,” columnist Carl confrontation with a criminal. The most Cannon wrote last year, “Mueller could not be bothered to walk across the street to attend the press conference announcing the case’s resolution. When reporters did ask him about it, Mueller was graceless. ‘I do not apologize for any aspect of the investigation,’ he said, adding that it would be erroneous ‘to say there were mistakes.’” Today Mueller is, of course, the special counsel investigating the Trump-Russia affair. But one could list a number of other non-heroic episodes under different directors in the bureau’s history, starting with the first, J. Edgar Hoover. So the FBI has deserved its share of criticism over the years. And that goes double when the bureau intrudes into politics. So no, Republicans are not attacking the FBI writ large. But when the nation’s premier investigative agency, with all its formidable law enforcement powers, jumps in the middle of hot political disputes, no one should be surprised when things get political. ■ Byron York is chief political correspondent for The Washington Examiner. T YOUR VIEWS B2H: Where are the benefits? Mitch Colburn has a terrible job. He’s paid to make Idaho Power’s B2H transmission line sound like a good project, good for Umatilla County, good for all of Oregon. Because there’s nothing good to say, he labels critics’ facts as “opinions,” which he responds to with “information,” mostly the company’s public relations window dressing. Where is Mr. Colburn’s information about benefits? Jobs: None. Additional energy delivered to Umatilla County: None. Here’s his information: Some transmission towers will be only 140 feet high, not 190. That’s a benefit? In special places, clear cuts will be only 150 feet wide, not 250. Another benefit? Only half as many access roads will be needed. That’s a mere 200 roads, not 400. To protect views of the Oregon Trail in Baker County, towers will be painted brown so shining steel won’t be so obnoxious. Do we all feel better now? Not likely. These 140- to 190-foot towers, planted on clear cuts as wide as eight-lane highways, will scar the skylines of five eastern Oregon Unsigned editorials are the opinion of the East Oregonian editorial board. Other columns, letters and cartoons on this page express the opinions of the authors and not necessarily that of the East Oregonian. counties from the Idaho border to Boardman, Oregon. That’s information, not opinion. Idaho Power has been meeting with stake holders and property owners. Yes. In La Grande more than 300 people have turned out. Every person in attendance said “No” to the B2H. Why? Because the B2H will cross prime farm land, endanger ecosystems, invade private property and impact the Oregon Trail. That’s information, not opinion. The “need” for the controversial B2H, whether it should be built at all, is currently being analyzed by the Oregon Public Utilities Commission. Idaho Power has been proposing this line since 2007. Is that good? No. In the last 10 years the electric utility industry has changed as much as the telephone industry. Trade publications use terms like “dramatic changes,” “tectonic shifts” and “death spiral” to describe the industry’s shift away from transmission lines. Idaho Power is still pursuing the same old plans to build the B2H — the equivalent of telephone poles for landlines — while in Iowa, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Oregon long-planned transmission line projects, once deemed “essential,” have been canceled. That’s information, not opinion. Mr. Colburn has a terrible job. Yes. That’s my opinion. Lois Barry La Grande Is BMCC rodeo arena best use of money? Why is so much money, possibly upwards of $10-12 million, being spent on a rodeo venture at the Pendleton Blue Mountain Community College? I understand that it would help the college animal science program, but why something this big, and expensive, and this dependent on county and city for future use? BMCC isn’t about Pendleton Round-Up or rodeos. BMCC surely isn’t about being a tourist attraction or fundraiser for the city. It is only a community college. BMCC is about education. It is a community college for students to either earn a degree for great employment or credits to enter into a college of higher learning. A community college is available for everyone in the Umatilla County area. The cost of attending BMCC is ridiculously expensive as it is. The cost of credits alone is increasing from $97 per credit to $104 per credit this coming year! “Lack of funding at the state level forces community colleges to place an unfair burden on the backs of students in the form of tuition increases,” a news release from BMCC stated. Put your knee high boots on because the cow poop is getting deep! Why not use the above money BMCC President Cam Preus has such wonderful future spending plans for; why not invest money into county grants for all the students that depend on getting degrees through BMCC and are residents of our county to help cover classroom literature for example? BMCC is Blue Mountain Community College, not a Blue Mountain Pendleton Round-Up Rodeo Event Grounds to rent out and a college rodeo team. The community, since it includes a BMCC located in the Hermiston area also, is about community of Umatilla County, not just one city and is not supposed to be involved in the tourist business. I’m just sayin’. Bernie Sanderson Hermiston The East Oregonian welcomes original letters of 400 words or less on public issues and public policies for publication in the newspaper and on our website. The newspaper reserves the right to withhold letters that address concerns about individual services and products or letters that infringe on the rights of private citizens. Letters must be signed by the author and include the city of residence and a daytime phone number. The phone number will not be published. Unsigned letters will not be published. Send letters to managing editor Daniel Wattenburger, 211 S.E. Byers Ave. Pendleton, OR 97801 or email editor@eastoregonian.com.