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Committee Votes to Release Democratic Rebuttal to GOP Russia Memo

February 6, 2018 by  
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Democrats were clearly nervous about what might happen during the White House review period. Representative Adam B. Schiff of California, the Intelligence Committee’s top Democrat, said the Democrats had already shared their memo with the F.B.I. and Justice Department and would seek specific explanations from the department and the White House for any changes they might request.

“I think it’s going to be very hard for the White House, like it was hard for the Republicans on the committee, to block the release of this. I am more concerned that they would make political redactions,” Mr. Schiff told reporters after the vote.

A White House official said on Monday that it was prepared to review the memo.

“We will consider it along the same terms that we considered the Nunes memo — which is to allow for a legal review — national security review — led by the White House Counsel’s Office,” a White House spokesman, Raj Shah, told reporters aboard Air Force One.

But the memo’s fate is uncertain. Mr. Trump signaled earlier on Monday that he had little good will toward the committee’s Democrats, launching a broadside at Mr. Schiff. Mr. Trump accused Mr. Schiff on Twitter of illegally leaking confidential information from the committee, called the congressman “Little Adam Schiff” and ominously said that he “must be stopped.”

In a separate tweet later in the morning, Mr. Trump praised Representative Devin Nunes of California, who spearheaded the Republican memo as the committee chairman, calling him a “Great American Hero for what he has exposed and what he has had to endure.”

Automated Twitter accounts, called bots, then appeared to push the “Little Adam Schiff” hashtag on the social media platform.

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Republicans framed the committee’s vote on Monday night as a matter of transparency.

“Obviously the Dems want to tell a side of the of the story that was different from the side we told,” said Representative K. Michael Conaway of Texas, a senior Republican on the committee. “And I think that’s fair to let them have their say in the public arena.”

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Mr. Nunes’s three-and-a-half-page memo centered on the F.B.I.’s use of material from a former British spy, Christopher Steele, in the warrant application to spy on Mr. Page. Mr. Steele was researching possible connections between Russia’s election interference and Trump associates, but the memo said that the F.B.I. had not disclosed to a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court judge that he was being paid by the Democratic National Committee and lawyers for Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.

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Democrats have denounced the document as a tactic to undermine the investigation and to protect Mr. Trump, and they have said it is riddled with errors and omissions.

Specifically, the Democratic memo is said to contend that the F.B.I. was more forthcoming with the surveillance court than Republicans had claimed. People familiar with the Democratic document said that it reveals that while the F.B.I. did not name the Democratic National Committee or Mrs. Clinton’s campaign, the bureau disclosed to the court that the information it had received from Mr. Steele was politically motivated.

The document is also said to contest Republican claims that Andrew G. McCabe, the deputy director of the F.B.I. at the time, had testified before the Intelligence Committee late last year that the agency would not have sought a wiretap of Mr. Page without Mr. Steele’s dossier of information.

The F.B.I. suspected that Mr. Page, a former Moscow-based investment banker who was under investigation once before, was acting as a Russian agent.

The New York Times filed a motion on Monday asking the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to unseal all materials related to the wiretap of Mr. Page, including the F.B.I.’s application for the warrant and other court documents. Since Congress enacted the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in 1978, no such wiretapping application materials have been made public.

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Monday’s vote was an about-face for the Intelligence Committee. Republicans on the committee voted against releasing the Democratic rebuttal last Monday during the same meeting they chose to initiate the release of their own. They argued then that the memo should first be shared with all members of the House — as the Republican memo had been — before being reconsidered for public release.

In initiating the release of the Democratic memo, the committee is relying on the same obscure House rule it invoked last week. The rule allows the Intelligence Committee to sidestep the usual back-and-forth between lawmakers and the executive branch over the government’s most closely held secrets if the committee deems release to be in the public interest.

Mr. Nunes, meanwhile, has continued to push forward in secret with what he referred to on Friday as “Phase Two” of the majority’s investigation. He has said he is focused on the Obama State Department and its role in the early stages of the Russia investigation, but offered few additional details.

Mark Landler and Michael D. Shear contributed reporting.


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Kylie Jenner Shows Off Her Newborn Daughter’s Adorable Collection of Baby Clothes — and Shoes

February 5, 2018 by  
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Kylie Jenner’s newborn daughter already has quite an impressive wardrobe!

After months of secrecy, on Sunday the Keeping Up with the Kardashians star revealed that she had given birth to her and boyfriend Travis Scott‘s first child — a girl — on Feb. 1. The little girl weighed in at 8 lbs., 9 oz., and arrived at 4:43 p.m. local time.

In a video montage accompanying the announcement — sweetly titled “To Our Daughter” — Jenner showed off her little girl’s collection of adorable baby clothes and shoes.

Want all the latest pregnancy and birth announcements, plus celebrity mom blogs? Click here to get those and more in the PEOPLE Babies newsletter.

Kicking off the fashion parade, Jenner unwrapped a present from her BFF Jordyn Woods, revealing a pair of tiny red and white Adidas sneakers with a black checkmark.

“Awwww,” Jenner exclaimed as she unveiled the shoes. “Jordy, these are so cute.”

“Right? ” Woods replied.

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And those kicks are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to her daughter’s footwear options.

Jenner then showed off an entire closet filled filled with baby clothes — including rows and rows full of every kind of shoe her daughter could possibly need, from winter boots to fluffy sandals to sneakers in every color of the rainbow.

Jenner also gave her fans a sneak peak at the baby clothes she’d purchased for her daughter, which included a row of sweet dresses in pinks, blues and yellows, and an array of cozy-looking onesies in pastel pinks, blues and yellows.

She also teased a row of playful baby clothes with bolder prints like sunflowers and red-and-white stripes.

A source previously told PEOPLE that Jenner was “having a lot of fun picking out items for her baby. She’s definitely leaning towards pink hues and having fun with the fact that she’s having a girl.”

Following Jenner’s happy reveal on Sunday, another source told PEOPLE, “After the baby was born, Kylie was relieved that the moment was finally here.”

RELATED: Kylie Jenner Was ‘Relieved’ to Welcome Baby Girl — and ‘Overwhelmed with Joy,’ Says Source

And even though the delivery room was “a bit chaotic with all the family and friends around,” the source added that the 20-year-old “was overwhelmed in a good way — overwhelmed with the joy, love and support everyone was giving to her and Travis.”

“I’m sorry for keeping you in the dark through all the assumptions,” Jenner wrote to fans as she revealed her baby news on Instagram. “I understand you’re used to me bringing you along on all my journeys. My pregnancy was one I chose not to do in front of the world.”

Continued Jenner, “I knew for myself I needed to prepare for this role of a lifetime in the most positive, stress free, and healthy way I knew how. There was no gotcha moment, no big paid reveal I had planned. I knew my baby would feel every stress and every emotion so I chose to do it this way for my little life and our happiness.”

“Pregnancy has been the most beautiful, empowering, and life changing experience I’ve had in my entire life and I’m actually going to miss it,” she said. “I appreciate my friends and especially my family for helping me make this special moment as private as we could. My beautiful and healthy baby girl arrived February 1st and I just couldn’t wait to share this blessing. I’ve never felt love and happiness like this I could burst! Thank you for understanding.”

♥️

A post shared by Kylie (@kyliejenner) on Feb 4, 2018 at 12:27pm PST

Also in the video montage, Jenner shared a quick shot of herself and the baby in the delivery room.

“Whatever your name is going to be, this is how I found out about you,” Jenner’s BFF Jordyn Woods said in the video, as she explained how the reality star learned she was pregnant.

RELATED: Kylie Jenner’s Friends Reveal How She Found Out She Was Pregnant, Her Reaction to Becoming a Mom at Just 20

thank you @wttyler for putting this together. here’s a little glimpse of the last 9 months. the link is in my bio ♥️

A post shared by Kylie (@kyliejenner) on Feb 4, 2018 at 12:29pm PST

“One day, I was in your mom’s bathroom with her and she took a little test,” Woods said.

After Jenner looked at the pregnancy test, “She passed it to me after, like, ‘Surprise.’ She just looked at me weird and I’m like, ‘What?’ And I didn’t know that’s what she was doing so when she passed it to me I was like …” Woods explained, making a shocked face.

Jenner’s assistant Victoria Villarroel also remembered being stunned when Jenner, as Woods said, “gave us a look.”

“I was like, ‘This is a baby!’ ” Jenner’s assistant exclaimed.

Later, Woods discussed her BFF becoming a mom at such a young age:”When you’re 20 years old, you’re just figuring out your life. You don’t know what you want. You’re an indecisive teenager and you’re just becoming a young adult, and there was one thing that your mom knew for sure, and that was you.”

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