GOP won't show

House GOP won't show secret Russia memo to Justice Department

Claiming abuses by Justice Department and FBI officials, Republicans say they should not be shown the document.

By KYLE CHENEY

House Republicans have refused to share with the Justice Department a secret memo alleging misconduct by federal officials investigating the 2016 Trump campaign’s Russia ties, even as they build a case that President Donald Trump should authorize the memo's public release.

An official at the Justice Department, helmed by Attorney General Jeff Sessions and his deputy Rod Rosenstein, confirmed to POLITICO on Monday that the department has requested access to the classified document but has not been able to see it. The FBI, too, has been denied access to the document.

Sources familiar with the memo, which was compiled by aides to House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes, say it claims that senior FBI officials abused a secret surveillance program, commonly known as FISA, to target the Trump campaign last fall. According to three people who have viewed it, the memo suggests that FBI agents seeking a fall 2016 warrant to surveil Trump campaign adviser Carter Page concealed the role a controversial private dossier alleging Kremlin influence over Trump played in their decision.

A senior Republican on the House Intelligence Committee said withholding the memo from the Justice Department and FBI makes sense given its charges of misconduct among senior federal law enforcement officials.

“They’re the ones that have the problem,” said Rep. Mike Conaway (R-Texas). “I think given the seriousness of this one and the players, this should go to the president first.”

Democrats have denounced the memo as a misleading political assault designed to distract from and undermine the investigations into Russian election meddling and contacts between Trump associates and the Kremlin.

The FBI has also confirmed that Congress is refusing to give the bureau access to the classified memo, despite several requests from the bureau.

“The FBI has requested to receive a copy of the memo in order to evaluate the information and take appropriate steps if necessary,” the agency said in a statement, first reported by The Daily Beast. “To date, the request has been declined.”

Conaway said that lawmakers would share their memo with Trump, who can then decide whether to provide it to the Justice Department and FBI.

Asked why the committee wouldn’t share the memo with FBI Director Christopher Wray, whom Trump appointed last year, Conaway said Wray is surrounded by Obama administration holdovers who, he implied, could not be trusted.

“He’s over there by himself,” Conaway said.

Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, who compiled the memo based on classified intelligence, voted last week to allow other members of Congress to read copies in a secure room in the Capitol. Several GOP lawmakers who have seen the memo have publicly declared its contents serious enough to warrant firing or even jailing some officials, and conservative news outlets have demanded its release.

But even some Republicans have warned that their colleagues are casting the document in hyperbolic terms, suggesting that its allegedly scandalous contents may be less than advertised.

Democrats say the GOP focus on the memo is part of a wider smear campaign against law enforcement officials who have investigated Trump officials and associates.

The dossier that the memo alleges helped drive the decision to seek a FISA warrant on Page was compiled in 2016 by former British spy Christopher Steele, a trusted FBI partner in previous investigations, who had been commissioned by the private research firm Fusion GPS to investigate Trump's business ties to Russia. Fusion's work was funded at that time by a lawyer who represented Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign and the Democratic National Committee. It's unclear if Steele's relationship to the campaign was disclosed in the FISA application.

Trump, who has fiercely criticized the FBI and intelligence agencies for what he’s called a “witch hunt” against him and his campaign, has the authority to declassify any intelligence documents he chooses, and the White House has repeatedly declined to say whether he might simply authorize the release of information that Republicans have long claimed would back up his argument.

Meanwhile, Republicans in Congress are pursuing an obscure, never-before-used process to compel the release of classified information, with or without the president’s approval. Under House rules, the intelligence committee may reveal classified information if they deem its public release outweighs national security concerns. Under the process, the committee could vote to release the memo as early as next Wednesday.

That would trigger a five-day window for Trump either to approve the release or recommend against it. If Trump approves, as many GOP lawmakers expect, the memo could be made public immediately.

“I would not expect President Trump to want to keep these things from the public,” said Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.), a vocal critic of FBI leaders and the Russia investigation, who supports the memo’s public release.

If Trump were to oppose its release, however, the committee could then refer the matter to the full House, which would meet in a closed session and vote on whether to override the president’s decision.

Though dozens of Republicans have called for the memo’s public release, there’s an internal divide over the rhetoric some have aimed at the law enforcement agencies.

Some have likened the allegations to the Watergate scandal. Others say it could provide grounds for closing special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

Cheering them on, Trump’s son Donald Trump Jr. has demanded the memo’s release in dozens of tweets and an appearance on Fox News.

But some GOP members of the House intelligence committee have urged colleagues to tone it down.

“This is dramatic enough. We don’t have to be overly dramatic in how we characterize it,” said Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah), one of 13 Republicans of the committee.

Other Republicans on the House and Senate intelligence committees, who are charged with overseeing the nation’s national security secrets, took a more muted tone than members with thinner intelligence or national security credentials.

“I try to not use a much hyperbole as some of my colleagues use,” said Conaway.

And asked about some of the House Republicans’ hot-blooded comments about the memo, Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) smiled.

“I think there’s a lot of paranoia around here when it comes to that topic,” he said.