The House Intelligence Committee is scheduled to meet at 5pm ET Monday and vote on releasing the Democratic memo compiled in response to the Nunes memo made public on Friday.
NYT:
Democrats have said their 10-page memo corrects mischaracterizations by the Republicans and adds crucial context to actions by the F.B.I. and the Justice Department in obtaining a secret Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court order to wiretap the former Trump aide, Carter Page.
President Trump, encouraged by Fox News host Sean Hannity and other pro-Trump allies and surrogates on television, made up his mind to release the Nunes memo before even reading it. Over the weekend, he claimed the memo cleared him in the Russia investigation even though it did not.
This memo totally vindicates “Trump” in probe. But the Russian Witch Hunt goes on and on. Their was no Collusion and there was no Obstruction (the word now used because, after one year of looking endlessly and finding NOTHING, collusion is dead). This is an American disgrace!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 3, 2018
In response, several congressional Republicans tried to draw a distinction between the Nunes memo and the Russia investigation, even though House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA) created the former in an attempt to undermine the latter.
WaPo:
Calling on Trump not to interfere in Mueller’s investigation, four Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee dismissed on Sunday the idea that the memo’s criticism of how the FBI handled certain surveillance applications undermines the special counsel’s work. Reps. Trey Gowdy (S.C.), Chris Stewart (Utah), Will Hurd (Tex.) and Brad Wenstrup (Ohio) represented the committee on the morning political talk shows.
(...)
“I actually don’t think it has any impact on the Russia probe,” Gowdy, who also chairs the House Oversight Committee, said on CBS’s “Face the Nation.”
Stewart, arguing that the two are “very separate” issues, said Mueller should be allowed to finish his work. “This memo, frankly, has nothing at all to do with the special counsel,” he told “Fox News Sunday.”
White House Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah spoke with reporters on Air Force One Monday and said the White House would approach the Democratic memo the same way it did the Nunes memo.
"Which is to allow for a legal review, national security review led by the White House Counsel’s Office, and then within five days the president will make a decision about declassifying it," said Shah.
But President Trump, who praised Nunes on Twitter Monday, used the same medium to attack House Intelligence Committee ranking member Adam Schiff (D-CA).
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
NYT:
Representative Jim Himes of Connecticut, a senior Democrat on the committee, said on Sunday that Americans needed to see the Democratic document.
“What we will learn is that it is not true that this FISA warrant was awarded solely on the basis of the Steele dossier,” Mr. Himes said on CNN’s “State of the Union.” “We will also learn that the F.B.I., because they are very careful people, didn’t mislead the judge, that the judge had some sense that this information came out of a political context.”
White House: Trump lawyers in favor of appointing second special counsel (Axios)
With a Monday Vote Expected, Democrats Press to Release Their Own Memo (NYT)
No, the Nunes memo doesn’t vindicate Trump on the Russia probe (NBC News)
Republican lawmakers distance themselves from Trump on memo (WaPo)
Trump attacks Schiff ahead of vote on Democrats’ Russia probe memo (WaPo)