Donald Trump to review memo alleging intelligence abuses by Democrats ahead of release
The memo has been much-touted on conservative media under the #ReleaseTheMemo hashtag. An investigation into the Justice Dept. and FBI has also been opened by the House
US President Donald Trump will release a classified Republican memo that alleges bias and counter-intelligence abuses in government surveillance of people surrounding him – but only after he has reviewed it, a White House aide said Tuesday.
The memo – which has been much-touted on conservative media under the #ReleaseTheMemo hashtag – has passed from a House committee to the White House for review, which is required because the document is based on classified information.
Trump has as many as five days to review the document for national security concerns, and it will not be part of his state-of-the-nation speech to Congress Tuesday, White House counsellor Kellyanne Conway told Fox News.
This is an effort to circle the wagons around the White House and distract from the Russia probe
“It’s up to the president,” Conway told CNN in a separate interview regarding the timing of its release. “We want it to be a deliberative process and we respect the process, the transparency and accountability. But can’t really comment on the substance of the memo.”
The majority-Republican House Intelligence Committee decided to seek release of the memo on a party-line vote Monday, Representative Adam Schiff, the senior Democrat on the panel, said.
The memo was written by Republican staff members led by Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes of California and member Trey Gowdy of South Carolina.
It was based on classified material obtained from the Justice Department and Federal Bureau of Investigation with House Speaker Paul Ryan’s backing.
Three House lawmakers who have read the document said it claims that FBI officials did not provide all the relevant facts in requests made to a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act court.
Those requests were made to obtain a warrant or warrants on Carter Page, a Trump campaign associate and former investment banker in Moscow.
The three lawmakers said the memo contends a judge might not have approved the request for surveillance aimed at Page if the Federal Bureau of Investigation revealed that it used an unverified dossier on Trump put together by former British spy Christopher Steele.
The judge might also have been dissuaded if it had known that he had been hired by an opposition research firm funded in part by Trump’s opponent, Hillary Clinton, and Democrats, it says.
The Republican majority refused along party lines to disclose a competing memo written by Democrats.
“This is an effort to circle the wagons around the White House and distract from the Russia probe,” Schiff said.
Committee Republican Mike Conaway of Texas, assigned to head the probe of election-meddling by Russia, said “yes,” when asked if he was confident that releasing the memo would not endanger national security. He said the Democratic memo might be released at a later time.
Schiff said the committee’s majority has also voted to open an investigation of the Justice Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Conaway rejected that characterisation, saying oversight of the agencies was always part of the committee’s duties.
The Democratic lawmaker said the investigation of election-meddling by Russia continued. Conaway and Schiff said former White House strategist Steve Bannon was expected to appear before the panel behind closed doors Wednesday.
Releasing the memo has become a cause for conservative congressional Republicans, who say the FBI and the Justice Department pursued the investigation of possible Russian ties to the Trump presidential campaign under false pretences.
Schiff has countered that the memo is part of a Republican effort designed to distract from, and undermine, Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Russian election interference and whether those around Trump colluded in it.
“The intent here is to protect the president at the risk of torching the FBI building and the credibility it has to have,” Representative Eric Swalwell, a California Democrat who is also a member of the intelligence committee, told MSNBC Tuesday.
“I’m confident if the full picture is seen this memo will be seen as laughable.”
The White House review of the memo might involve redactions before the president approves or disapproves its release, said the person, who requested anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter.
Even if the administration objects, the full House could hold a rare closed-door vote on whether to publicly disclose the memo anyway.
FBI Director Christopher Wray has been allowed to read the memo, and it’s now being reviewed by the FBI and the Justice Department, according to a person familiar with the matter.
Associate Attorney General Stephen Boyd warned last week that it would be “extraordinarily reckless” to release the memo because it contains classified information.
Schiff said Wray told him he wants to brief the Intelligence panel on concerns regarding release of the memo, but Republicans rejected the Democrats’ request to hear from him. “They were not willing to meet with the FBI director,” Schiff said.
“When you have a deeply flawed person in the Oval Office, that flaw can infect the whole government, and today tragically it affected our committee,” Schiff said.
In a statement released late Monday night, Nancy Pelosi, the House minority leader, said “the House Republicans crossed from dangerous irresponsibility and disregard for our national security into the realm of cover-up. In doing so, they disregarded the warnings of the Justice Department and the FBI.”
