Democrat 'rebuttal' to Nunes memo about Steel dossier has a fatal flaw

Byron York:

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Remember that the standard for winning a warrant to wiretap a U.S. citizen in the United States is quite high, and that the purpose of the warrant application was to convince the FISA judges that Page specifically, not the Trump campaign generally or any group of people, was a Russian agent and was likely violating the law.

The first bullet point, about "Russia's election interference" — a reference to, say, evidence of Russian hacking of the Democratic National Committee or Russian internet trolling — doesn't say anything about Carter Page.

The second bullet point, an apparent reference to Russian contacts with George Papadapoulos, also doesn't say anything about Page.

The third category, referring to Page's business history in Moscow in the 2000s, and more specifically a 2013 case in which Russian agents tried unsuccessfully to recruit him, does of course focus on Page. As I wrote this month, by several accounts, Page's history was not a big part of the FISA application, but it was a part, and House Republicans should have included that fact in their memo. On the other hand, Page's history was history; it was not new in October 2016, when the first warrant was granted, and it's not clear why it would have triggered the DOJ to ask for, or the FISA court to approve, a wiretapping warrant.

The Democrats' fourth and last bullet point, referring to "Page's suspicious activities in 2016, including in Moscow," seems to be the category that would have given the warrant application its punch. Unlike the other bullets, it was both new and about Page specifically. And sure enough, it is the category in which Democrats concede that the Steele dossier was used.
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It should also be noted that the first three issues the Democrat list existed in July when the FISA court turned down the application for a warrant.  That shows that the Steele dossier was the determining factor in the granting of the warrant.

Democrats do not make the case that it is OK to use opposition research to get a FISA warrant to spy on people in the opposition campaign.  I have yet to hear a Democrat say it would be OK for President Trump to do the same thing to their candidate.