House Intel Committee Votes Unanimously To Release Democratic Memo

What’s the story?

Monday evening the House Intelligence Committee voted unanimously to release a Democratic memo, authored primarily by Rep. Adam Schiff (CA) and his staff, that is widely reported to be a counter to the GOP memo released on Friday. The GOP memo alleged that the FBI inappropriately used the controversial Steele dossier to secure a FISA warrant to conduct surveillance on Trump campaign advisor Carter Page.

The White House now has five days to authorize release of the Democratic memo to the public and make any redactions they deem necessary to protect "intelligence sources and methods". Schiff expressed concern after the Monday night decision that the White House might redact the document for political reasons, reports the Washington Post.

The Democratic memo is reported to put the GOP allegations in a wider context. Democrats say it shows that the information purported in the Steele dossier was only part of a long list of reasons provided to the FISA judge to request the original surveillance warrant. They also point out that the approval of an extension of the original warrant was only possible because credible evidence had been uncovered in the initial surveillance.

After the release of the GOP memo Friday various Republican lawmakers, including Speaker Paul Ryan, have advocated the release of the Democratic memo, reports the New York Times.

President Trump began Monday by attacking Schiff and praising Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), who led the GOP effort to write and release the GOP memo.

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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 5, 2018

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!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 5, 2018

Officially, the White House has said they are open to supporting the release of the Democratic memo as long as any classified information that could endanger sources methods were redacted. The GOP memo was also reviewed by the White House, but no information was redacted.

What do you think?

Should the Democratic memo be released to the public following White House review, as the GOP version was?

Tell us in the comments what you think, then use the Take Action button to tell your reps!

Take Action

— Asha Sanaker