President Trump Blocks Release Of Democrats' Memo On Russia Investigation
WASHINGTON, D.C. (CBSNewYork/CBSNews/AP) -- President Donald Trump will not declassify the Democrats' current memo on the Russia investigation, the White House announced Friday night.
"Although the president is inclined to declassify the Feb. 5th memorandum, because the memorandum contains numerous properly classified and especially sensitive passages, he is unable to do so at this time," the letter from White House counsel Don McGahn to Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, reads.
The letter went on to say that Justice Department officials should make themselves available to provide technical assistance, "should the committee wish to revise the February 5th memorandum to mitigate the risks identified by the Department."
READ IT HERE: Controversial GOP Memo On Russia Probe Released
Democratic members of the House Intelligence Committee drafted the memo in response to a Republican document that was released last week, alleging surveillance abuses.
U.S. Rep. Adam Schiff (D-California), the top Democrat on the committee, released a statement on Twitter.
After ignoring urging of FBI & DOJ not to release misleading Nunes memo because it omits material facts, @POTUS now expresses concerns over sharing precisely those facts with public and seeks to send it back to the same Majority that produced the flawed Nunes memo to begin with: pic.twitter.com/qNVyS99eXs
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) February 10, 2018
"After ignoring urging of the FBI & DOJ not to release misleading Nunes memo because it omits material facts, President Trump now expresses concerns over sharing precisely those facts with public and seeks to send it back to the same Majority that produced the flaws Nunes memo to begin with," he said.
The previously released GOP memo, which the FBI called inaccurate and missing critical context, alleged that current and former FBI and Justice Department leaders signed off on a surveillance warrant to monitor former Trump campaign associate Carter Page's communications.
The document also said opposition research, conducted by a British spy and funded in part by the Democratic National Committee and Clinton campaign, formed a critical basis for the warrant.
Republicans say that such research should not have been the basis for a warrant, because it contains unproven allegations.
Democrats argue the GOP memo cherry-picks intelligence in an effort to smear the Russia investigation.
(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)