Bills
| 3.23.22

Should the “FISA Memo” Detailing Surveillance Abuses by the FBI be Publicly Released? (H. Res. 717)

Do you support or oppose this bill?

What is H. Res. 717?

(Updated November 15, 2018)

This resolution — the “Release the Memo Resolution” — would call for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence to publicly release the so-called “FISA memo” and ancillary information which detail improper conduct by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and Dept. of Justice (DOJ). The memo is classified and purportedly contains evidence of “shocking and un-American” surveillance actions by the FBI and DOJ that violated Americans’ rights. Because it is classified, the committee has to vote to release the information which would then be subject to review by the executive branch, which can try to block its release, before it is made public.

As a simple resolution, this legislation is non-binding and wouldn’t advance to the Senate if passed by the House. It merely expresses the sense of House lawmakers.

Argument in favor

If the FBI and DOJ abused the rights of the Americans with their surveillance activities, the House Intel Committee should make the memo summarizing their findings and any ancillary information available to the public.

Argument opposed

The House Intel Committee would do the public a disservice by releasing a partisan memo summarizing misconduct by the FBI & DOJ that cherry picks facts and doesn’t tell the entire story.

Impact

The public; and the House Intelligence Committee.

Cost of H. Res. 717

A CBO cost estimate is unavailable.

Additional Info

In-Depth: Sponsoring Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) introduced this resolution after viewing the memo drafted by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) to call for its public release. Gaetz led a group of 65 lawmakers in calling for the release of the memo, writing the following to Nunes:

“This important memo will be of interest to anyone who cares about America and our democratic system of government. We are writing to request the immediate release of this document to the public, as well as any relevant ancillary information. The audience of this document should not be limited to Members of Congress — the American people deserve to know the information it contains.”

The House Intelligence Committee voted along party lines to release the Nunes memo while voting against the release of a memo authored by Democratic members. Ranking Member Adam Schiff (D-CA) called the vote an attempt to “politicize the intelligence process” and added:

“Sadly, we expect that the president of the United States will not put the national interest over his own personal interest. But it is a sad day indeed when that is also true of our own committee.”

The FBI is attempting to stop the release of the memo and released the following statement:

"As expressed during our initial review, we have grave concerns about the material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy."

The White House signaled that it intends to allow the release of the memo following the completion of its review process, with Chief of Staff John Kelly saying “It will be released here pretty quick, I think, and the whole world can see it.” A spokesman added that “The president would never and will never put American people’s lives at risk and threaten our national security and if anything in this document does that, he will not release it.”


Media:

Summary by Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: South_agency / iStock)