Arguing the memo

In [a] Jan. 18 call [to Trump], when two House conservatives — Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and [(R-NC) Mark] Meadows — first raised the subject of declassifying the Nunes memo, Trump was unfamiliar with the topic and more focused on trying to stave off a government shutdown.

[...]

Over the next two weeks, according to interviews with eight senior administration officials and other advisers to the president, he tuned in to cable television segments about the memo. He talked to friends and advisers about it. And, before he had even read it, Trump became absolutely convinced of one thing: The memo needed to come out.

[...]

But Kelly later called Meadows back to ask more about the memo and they discussed the role the president might play in its release, according to two people familiar with the conversation.

[...]

Intelligence and law enforcement officials repeatedly spoke with Kelly to argue against the memo’s release, administration officials said. Kelly met [this] Monday afternoon with FBI Director Christopher A. Wray and Rosenstein, who argued against the release, saying the memo could expose classified information and was an inaccurate depiction of the bureau’s investigative methods.

But Kelly was not swayed.

Later that night, Wray again called Kelly to argue in favor of keeping the memo private, but was unsuccessful, these officials said.

On Tuesday, five FBI officials, including at least one from counterintelligence, went to the White House to discuss their concerns with Kelly, a White House official said.

Director of National Intelligence Daniel Coats also met with Kelly at the White House this week to express his reservations, one U.S. official said.

The discussions between Kelly and national security officials largely focused on the need to protect sources and methods of intelligence gathering, as well as concerns about setting a dangerous precedent, a White House official said.

  WaPo

We've already set a dangerous president.

The White House recognized the potential for political pitfalls. Aides wanted Congress to have full ownership of the memo in case it turned out to be, in the anxious prediction of one White House official, “a dud.” So the president’s advisers made a decision to create at least the perception of distance between the White House and the House Intelligence Committee, leaving the public cheerleading for the memo’s release largely to Republican lawmakers.

And they did that how?

By [...] Monday, Jan. 22, staff had briefed the president on the arcane declassification process, which the House had never before used. If the House Intelligence Committee voted to release the memo, as it ultimately did Monday, Trump would have five days to review the document and raise any objections about its release, aides told the president.

That's not much distance, especially considering Trump was telling people he wanted the memo released.  And let's not forget, Nunes sent him an altered memo from the one the Committee Republicans voted to release.

Over the past two weeks, a number of senior administration officials had repeatedly urged against the memo’s release — and argued that if Trump did authorize it, he should at least order certain redactions to protect the intelligence community’s sources and methods.

On Thursday, however, the White House prepared to authorize the release of the memo in its entirety.

“The president is okay with it,” a senior administration official told reporters traveling with Trump in West Virginia. “I doubt there will be any redactions. It’s in Congress’s hands after that.”

Yes, we know. He will not take the heat for anything. No buck ever stopped with Trump.

And it's still not certain the memo will be released.

Flashback:

That was obviously not an auto correct issue.

 ...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.