DECONSTRUCTING THE SCHIFF MEMO: From the First Bullet, a Litany of Lies and Disinformation

The ranking member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), one Adam Schiff, has released a rebuttal to the majority's 4-page memo on surveillance abuses by the Obama DOJ and FBI.

Schiff's 10-page memo is redacted in a few sections -- likely an intentional disclosure of sources and methods that required some redactions -- but the underlying message is clear.

The abuse of FISA surveillance was legit, above board, nothing to see here, move along, peons.

But, thanks to the Timeline of Treason, we can easily find the contradictions, fabrications, and propaganda woven throughout the Schiff document.

Let's start with the very first bullet:

So the FBI initiated the investigation in late July 2016 and only received the "dossier" in September?

James Comey, under oath, said otherwise ("Comey says FBI began investigation into Russia meddling in July").

Also, The New York Times -- which publishes intelligence leaks on a near-daily basis -- has reported otherwise. In fact, the FBI received the memo on July 5, 2016, according to the Times.

Therefore, it appears that the FBI was aware of the "salacious and unverified" dossier in early July, well before the investigation began. Given the nature of the material's explosive assertions about then-candidate Trump, along with Steele's presumably high-level contacts at the FBI, it defies belief that it would take 10 weeks to reach the FBI's counter-intelligence leadership.

After all, as ABC has reported:

The allegations Steele laid out to the FBI in July 2016 in the dossier were shocking. They were salacious. And they were completely unverified by the U.S. government — at least at that point.

The FBI has not said whether the dossier prompted its investigation, which was opened the same month Steele handed over his dossier, according to congressional testimony.

You know what would help clear this up?

That's right: the actual FISA surveillance requests.

Stay tuned. I'll have more deconstruction points soon. Hat tip: BadBlue Uncensored News.