Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA), ranking member on the House Intelligence Committee who wrote the rebuttal to Rep. Devin Nunes' (R-CA) memo, says he will work with the FBI to redact any possibly problematic information.
Schiff said Democrats showed the memo to the Justice Department and the FBI and asked for their feedback before bringing it to the intelligence panel, and did not hear complaints about inaccuracy. But he said Democrats will "sit down with the FBI and go through any concerns that they have" about the disclosure of classified intelligence. "We will redact it to make sure that we're very protective of sources and methods," Schiff said.
President Trump blocked the countermemo's release, citing too much classified information – a move that stood in sharp contrast to his enthusiastic release of the Nunes memo, which he then incorrectly proclaimed vindicated him in the Russia probe.
Trump overrode strong Justice Department objections when he declassified a Republican memo alleging an abuse of surveillance powers in the FBI's Russia investigation. The FBI expressed "grave concerns" about the memo's accuracy and the Justice Department said in advance that its release, without proper review, would be "extraordinarily reckless."
But Trump has blocked the Democratic document, which tries to counter the Republican allegations of surveillance excesses. The president has the authority to keep such information under wraps, and exercised it only against the Democrats.
"Their goal here is to put the FBI on trial, to put Bob Mueller's investigation on trial, and the president is only too happy to accommodate," Schiff said.