Nunes memo shows dossier author’s ‘past record of credible reporting’ was strong enough to wiretap Trump adviser

A controversial memo issued by House Republicans attacks a dossier written by a former British spy -- but praises his past work as credible.

The memo compiled by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) and his staff claims the dossier formed an "essential part" of a FISA warrant to conduct surveillance on Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

President Donald Trump has dismissed the dossier as "fake news," but the memo asserts that recently dismissed deputy FBI director Andrew McCabe "confirmed" the FISA warrant wouldn't not have been sought without the document.

Nunes staffers traveled to London last year to meet with Christopher Steele, who shared his political opposition research into Trump's ties to Russia with the FBI.

The memo claims Steele was politically motivated to keep Trump out of office, but the former MI6 officer has said he feared the Republican presidential nominee was compromised by Russia and essentially a Kremlin operative.

"While the FISA application relied on Steele's past record of credible reporting on unrelated matters, it ignored or concealed his anti-Trump financial and ideological motivations," the memo states.

The memo also notes the FISA warrant mentioned Trump campaign adviser George Papadopoulos, whose drunken boasts to an Australian ambassador helped launch an FBI counterintelligence investigation.

Papadpoulos, who later pleaded guilty to lying to FBI agents, is not mentioned in the Steele dossier.