--- title: James Comey Criticizes House Republicans For Nunes Memo description: House Republicans released a memo alleging the FBI was biased in its investigation into possible meddling in the 2016 election. Here's James Comey's response. canonical: https://time.com/5131668/james-comey-nunes-memo/ author: Mahita Gajanan article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-02-02T22:40:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T19:07:52.118Z article:section: Politics og:title: 'That's It?' James Comey Criticizes House Republicans For Nunes Memo og:description: The much-hyped memo didn't shake the former FBI director og:url: https://time.com/5131668/james-comey-nunes-memo/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e56cabc8ea00d29/6988fa7edb2987734b25e9f4/james-comey-nunes-memo.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Former FBI Director James Comey testifies before Congress og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: 'That's It?' James Comey Criticizes House Republicans For Nunes Memo twitter:description: The much-hyped memo didn't shake the former FBI director twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3e56cabc8ea00d29/6988fa7edb2987734b25e9f4/james-comey-nunes-memo.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # 'That's It?' James Comey Criticizes House Republicans For Nunes Memo by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Feb 2, 2018 10:40 PM UTC  Former FBI Director James Comey testifies during a US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, United States on June 08, 2017. Former FBI Director James Comey testifies during a US Senate Select Committee on Intelligence hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, United States on June 08, 2017.Anadolu Agency—Getty Images by [Mahita Gajanan](https://time.com/author/mahita-gajanan/) ## Mahita Gajanan Gajanan is an editor at TIME. Feb 2, 2018 10:40 PM UTC Former FBI Director James Comey criticized House Republicans for [releasing the controversial “Nunes memo”](http://time.com/5130772/nunes-memo-released-what-it-says/?xid=homepage) on Friday. Comey, who was [fired from the FBI](http://time.com/4773873/james-comey-fired-whats-next/) by President Trump last May, suggested the release of the memo did more harm than offer tangible proof that the [FBI was biased](http://time.com/5130424/nunes-memo-doesnt-matter-donald-trump-investigation/?xid=homepage) in its investigation of ties between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election. “That’s it?” he asked, calling the memo “dishonest and misleading.” > [](https://twitter.com/Comey/status/959498570532577285) The memo, overseen by House Intelligence Committee chair, Republican Rep. [Devin Nunes](http://time.com/5131289/white-house-statement-memo-donald-trump/), focused on the FBI obtaining a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant against Carter Page, a former Trump campaign policy adviser. The memo alleged that the FBI used the unsubstantiated “Steele dossier,” a document authored by Christopher Steele, a former British spy, when getting the FISA warrant. The memo has received [strong criticism](http://time.com/5130424/nunes-memo-doesnt-matter-donald-trump-investigation/?xid=homepage) from the Justice Department, the FBI, some Republicans and most congressional Democrats. The White House has said the memo [raises “serious concerns”](http://time.com/5131289/white-house-statement-memo-donald-trump/) about the FBI and Justice Department’s handling of the investigation. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5131668/james-comey-nunes-memo/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5131668/james-comey-nunes-memo/"},"headline":"'That's It?' 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