House Intel votes to release controversial memo on DOJ, FBI

FAN Editor

Last Updated Jan 29, 2018 8:48 PM EST

WASHINGTON — Members of the House Intelligence Committee voted along party lines on Monday to make public a four-page classified memo about alleged surveillance abuses by the FBI that targeted members of the Trump campaign during the 2016 presidential election. Democrats were thwarted in their attempt to have their own memorandum publicly released, an effort to rebut the majority’s memo, which was authored by Chairman Devin Nunes’ staff. 

The ranking Democrat on the committee, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, also said Republicans on the committee had opened an investigation into the FBI and the Justice Department, which he said was revealed to minority members for the first time Monday. Republican members disputed Schiff’s characterization, saying the probe is part of the committee’s ongoing investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

Schiff told reporters after a committee meeting Monday that the unstated purpose of the investigation was to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation. 

Schiff said that it didn’t seem likely that the Justice Department or the FBI would be able to vet the majority’s memo before its release. 

“The conclusion is precooked,” Schiff told reporters. He said he proposed a motion during Monday’s committee meeting that would have allowed the DOJ and FBI to see the contents of the memo before its release, and the motion was voted down.

He also said that he had spoken to FBI Director Christopher Wray earlier Monday, and Wray expressed “strong interest” in briefing the committee on concerns that he might have about the release of the GOP’s memo. Schiff said that Republicans on the committee were not willing to meet with the FBI to hear the bureau’s concerns. Schiff called it a “very sad day in the history of this committee.”

The majority’s memo is said to contain evidence that the FBI relied on an unverified dossier compiled by former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele to wrongly secure surveillance warrants under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. Democrats on the committee say the majority’s memo amounts to “Republican spin” and selectively uses classified information to undermine the work of Mueller’s office.

Wray was able to view the GOP-authored memo over the weekend, CBS News’ Paula Reid confirmed. Fox News first reported he had seen the memo.

President Trump will now have five days to object to its release.

At least some of the details in the majority’s memo are said to be based on intelligence that is so highly classified that it is considered “Gang of Eight” material, available to only a select few congressional leaders.

While the dispute over publicly releasing the majority’s memo is principally taking place between the committee and the Department of Justice, there may be reason for other intelligence agencies – potentially including the Central Intelligence Agency and the National Security Agency – to be concerned about an eventual public release. Sources say some of the intelligence underlying the memo is likely to have been contributed by agencies besides the FBI, suggesting they, too, will have a stake in whether the memo or its underlying intelligence becomes public.

On Monday, White House spokesman Raj Shah said nobody in the White House, including the president, had seen the majority’s memo.

CBS News’ Olivia Victoria Gazis contributed to this report.

© 2018 CBS Interactive Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Free America Network Articles

Leave a Reply

Next Post

Cramer Remix: Why Apple’s stock has been set up to fail

On a down day for the major averages, CNBC’s Jim Cramer said that investors should look at Monday’s broad-based dip as an opportunity. “If you’ve been waiting for a pullback to do some buying, this is your moment,” the “Mad Money” host said. “This week we’re going to run a […]