The release of a four-page memo created by Republican staffers and House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes alleging abuse of surveillance authority by the Justice Department and FBI has unleashed a firestorm of controversy. The Nunes memo alleges that the FBI may have relied on “politically motivated or questionable sources” to obtain a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant in the early phases of the FBI’s investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

What are we to make of the Nunes memo? What are the legalities surrounding its release and allegations. And what do we know about the secretive FISA law and the FISA court that issued the warrant?

These are the questions we examine this week on the legal-affairs podcast Lawyer 2 Lawyer. To help us do so, we’re joined by two experts:

  • Robert E. Anderson Jr., managing director of Navigant and a former national security executive with the FBI, where he was directly involved in investigating and prosecuting some of the most famous spies in U.S. history.
  • John Malcolm, vice president of the Institute for Constitutional Government and director of the Meese Center for Legal & Judicial Studies at the Heritage Foundation and a former deputy assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice’s Criminal Division.

Listen to the show using the player above or at the Legal Talk Network.

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Photo of Bob Ambrogi Bob Ambrogi

Bob is a lawyer, veteran legal journalist, and award-winning blogger and podcaster. In 2011, he was named to the inaugural Fastcase 50, honoring “the law’s smartest, most courageous innovators, techies, visionaries and leaders.” Earlier in his career, he was editor-in-chief of several legal publications, including The National Law Journal, and editorial director of ALM’s Litigation Services Division.