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House intelligence committee unanimously votes to release Democratic memo
(CNN)The
House Intelligence Committee voted unanimously Monday evening to make
public the Democratic memo rebutting GOP allegations that the FBI abused
surveillance laws, the committee's top Democrat said, a move that will
put the issue back on President Donald Trump's desk this week.
The
classified memo from Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House
Intelligence Committee, is written to push back against the central
allegations of the Republican memo from Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes. Nunes' memo was released Friday and alleges the FBI abused the FISA process in obtaining a surveillance warrant on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
Schiff
told reporters Monday evening that the committee also agreed to send
the Democratic memo to the FBI and Justice Department to play a role in
the Executive Branch approval process.
Schiff
and other Democrats charge that Nunes' memo is inaccurate and
misleading, and the 10-page Schiff memo goes point-by-point to counter
the charges in the Nunes memo. Schiff has said he has given his memo to
the Justice Department for review.
The
GOP-led House Intelligence Committee blocked the release of the
Democratic memo at last week's committee meeting, saying members had
just been presented with the document, instead moving forward with the
four-page Nunes memo that now has been declassified after Trump agreed
to its release Friday.
The panel
did, however, agree last week to let the full House review the Schiff
memo in a classified setting. Republicans leaving the closed-door
meeting on Monday said they support its release, which is now in the
hands of the White House.
The
process for publicly releasing the Schiff memo is the same as the Nunes
document: The President will have five days to decide whether to allow
the document to be made public or object to its release. If the
President objects, the House Intelligence Committee could send the
matter to the full House to debate in closed session and vote on whether
to make the memo public.
Following
Monday's vote, a White House official said the Schiff memo will be
"reviewed" -- but again stopped short of vowing to declassify it.
"It will be read and reviewed," a senior White House official said.
The
classified memo is expected to be taken by courier to the White House
Monday evening, the official said, setting into motion the five-day
review period. The official did not say whether the decision would be
made before Friday, but suggested it could be.
One
Florida Republican who is helping run the Russia investigation, Rep.
Tom Rooney, said he though there wouldn't be much in the Schiff memo to
redact.
Schiff told reporters he
thought that Republicans felt they had to vote to release the Democratic
memo after blocking it last week -- adding that he thought it would
also be very difficult for the White House to object to its release.
But
Schiff said he's concerned the White House will make "political
redactions" to the memo before releasing it, and not just to protect
sensitive information, and that's why he asked the Justice Department
and FBI to play a role vetting the document. Schiff says they have
already provided the memo to DOJ and FBI, but have not gotten a response
yet.
Monday's meeting also renewed
the committee's fight over the role that the White House played with
the Nunes memo, which Trump said "vindicates" him on Sunday.
Rep.
Mike Quigley, an Illinois Democrat, pressed Nunes during the meeting on
whether he had coordinated with the White House in any aspect of the
memo, just as he had one week prior when Nunes did not respond to his
questions about staff involvement with the White House on the memo.
Nunes
read a statement at the meeting saying that the White House was not
involved with the "drafting" of the Republican memo. But that did not
satisfy Democrats, as Schiff said it was a "lawyerly" response that does
not address whether the White House coordinated in other ways
surrounding the creation of the memo.
Trump tweeted about both Schiff and
Nunes on Monday morning, slamming the top Democrat on the Intelligence
Committee and praising the Republican chairman, although he didn't
address Schiff's memo specifically.
"Little
Adam Schiff, who is desperate to run for higher office, is one of the
biggest liars and leakers in Washington, right up there with Comey,
Warner, Brennan and Clapper! Adam leaves closed committee hearings to
illegally leak confidential information. Must be stopped!" Trump
tweeted.
"Representative Devin
Nunes, a man of tremendous courage and grit, may someday be recognized
as a Great American Hero for what he has exposed and what he has had to
endure!" he tweeted two hours later.
Schiff responded to Trump with a tweet of his own.
"Mr.
President, I see you've had a busy morning of 'Executive Time.' Instead
of tweeting false smears, the American people would appreciate it if
you turned off the TV and helped solve the funding crisis, protected
Dreamers or...really anything else," he tweeted.
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