It’s a full-blown “memo” war in Washington.
Trump administration officials have signaled that President Trump will release the Democrats’ rebuttal to the FISA memo declassified by the House Intelligence Committee last week, but are likely to redact portions out of national security concerns, the New York Times reported.
Democratic lawmakers, including House Intelligence Committee ranking member Adam Schiff, D-Calif., have called on the president to release the Democrat memo–which the committee unanimously approved for release on Monday–without redactions.
According to Fox News, Schiff said he hoped President Trump “does not redact our memo for political purposes.”
The Democrat claimed the FBI and Department of Justice were presented with the memo and consulted about recommended redactions.
On CNN, Schiff expounded: “That is, not redactions to protect sources or methods, which we’ve asked the Department of Justice and the FBI to do, but redactions to remove information they think is unfavorable to the president.”
President Trump reviewed the Republican memo last week and authorized its release without redactions.
Rep. Mark Meadows, R-S.C., accused Schiff, the Democratic memo’s author, of playing partisan politics.
“Adam Schiff’s comments about redactions recognize the fact that the Democrat memo was hastily put together and has a number of areas that must be addressed before it’s released to the public,” Meadows said.
Former FBI official Dan Bongino suggested Democrats are laying a trap for the president.
https://twitter.com/dbongino/status/960909109217386496
The new memo reportedly counters claims in the Republican memo that the FBI committed FISA abuse by using the unverified Steele dossier to obtain a surveillance warrant on former Trump campaign adviser Cater Page–without disclosing to the FISA court that the dossier was paid for by the Clinton campaign and the Democratic National Committee.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said it “will take several days to complete” the review process for the Schiff memo. She told the press that Trump discussed the document with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein on Tuesday.
Also on Tuesday, Senators Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, and Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., released a criminal referral written to the Department of Justice last month in which they expressed concerns about Steele and quoted from the Department’s requests to spy on Carter Page.
According to the Grassley-Graham document, former British spy Christopher Steele lied to the FBI about his contacts and was fed information by Clinton associates.
Right now, Washington is consumed in a battle to see who can get their information out to the public first.
DONATE TO BIZPAC REVIEW
Please help us! If you are fed up with letting radical big tech execs, phony fact-checkers, tyrannical liberals and a lying mainstream media have unprecedented power over your news please consider making a donation to BPR to help us fight them. Now is the time. Truth has never been more critical!
Comment
We have no tolerance for comments containing violence, racism, profanity, vulgarity, doxing, or discourteous behavior. If a comment is spam, instead of replying to it please click the ∨ icon below and to the right of that comment. Thank you for partnering with us to maintain fruitful conversation.
BPR INSIDER COMMENTS
Scroll down for non-member comments or join our insider conversations by becoming a member. We'd love to have you!
