The Department of Justice has rejected a request from Trump allies in the House Freedom Caucus for an unredacted copy of the memo "detailing the scope of special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation."
Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd told the lawmakers in a letter on Wednesday that turning over the memo would "threaten the integrity" of Mueller's ongoing investigation into possible collusion between President Trump's campaign and Russia, according to a copy of the correspondence obtained by The Hill.
“Although we are working to accommodate the requests of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee in a number of oversight matters, we cannot provide the requested information pertaining to the Special Counsel’s ongoing investigation consistent with longstanding principles of investigatory independence," Boyd wrote in the letter, which was first reported by the Washington Examiner.
A redacted version of the August memo signed by Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, which was made public in court filings, authorizes the Mueller investigation and directs Mueller to investigate whether Trump campaign officials “committed a crime or crimes by colluding with Russian government officials.”
Mueller's team is authorized to pursue any and all criminal charges uncovered by the investigation.
DOJ denies House conservatives' request to review Mueller’s directive (The Hill)