White House suggests "minor" redactions to Nunes memo
The White House is suggesting some redactions be made to the classified memo written by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, CBS News' Major Garrett reports.
An administration source involved in the process says the White House has, after consultations with the FBI and others in the intelligence community, suggested a "handful" of "minor" redactions to the memo, authored by the staff of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-California. These redactions reflect "primarily" concerns expressed by the FBI. The source said the redactions do not amount to a significant editing of the memo's narrative but address concerns raised about sources and methods of intelligence referred to in the memo. The White House will return the memo to the Intel Committee with these suggestions and with the expectation they will be included before the memo is made public.
CBS News' Paula Reid reports that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Wray have not requested specific redactions to the memo. The "minor" redactions may have been requested by other intelligence agencies or stem from off-hand concerns expressed, but the Justice Department has not asked for any specific redaction, according to a senior Justice Department official.
The memo is said to allege 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 (FISA). After the House Intelligence Committee voted to make it public, it sent the memo to the White House for review.
The sources told Garrett the White House does not have to declassify the memo and the expectation is the House Intel Committee will release it first on its website and then seek to have it placed in the Congressional Record.
CBS News' Major Garrett and Paula Reid contributed to this report.