In response to reports President Trump plans to allow the House Intelligence Committee to release the Nunes memo to the public Friday, Senators Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Chris Coons (D-DE), members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, put out a joint statement Thursday night saying the president should reverse his decision:
“President Trump should heed the warnings of the Justice Department and FBI, and reverse his reported decision to defy longstanding policies regarding the disclosure of classified information. The president’s apparent willingness to release this memo risks undermining U.S. intelligence-gathering efforts, politicizing Congress’ oversight role, and eroding confidence in our institutions of government.”
NYT:
Mr. Trump, who had a brief window to block the memo’s disclosure on national security grounds, was expected to tell Congress on Friday that he had no objections and would probably not request that any of its substance be redacted, according to a senior administration official.
Representative Jerrod Nadler (D-NY), ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, also weighed in on the controversial memo, sending a letter to Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-VA) asking for an immediate meeting with FBI Director Chris Wray and other members of the DOJ to brief the committee.
"It is imperative that we hear directly from these officials about the security and law enforcement implications of making this information public," Nadler wrote.
"It is also important that we hear about any inaccuracies or key omissions from the Nunes document," he added.
(...)
Nunes has dismissed the FBI's criticism and accused the bureau of running a counterintelligence operation based on unverified information during the 2016 election.
"It’s clear that top officials used unverified information in a court document to fuel a counterintelligence investigation during an American political campaign. Once the truth gets out, we can begin taking steps to ensure our intelligence agencies and courts are never misused like this again,” Nunes said.
NYT:
Democrats who have seen it say the Republican document amounts to a risky attempt to construct a narrative to undercut the Russia investigation. They say it relies on cherry-picked facts and disregards key context.
Flake, Coons Release Statement on House Intelligence Committee Memo (press release)
House Judiciary Dem calls for emergency FBI, DOJ meeting over Nunes memo (The Hill)
Trump Clears the Way for Release of Secret Republican Memo (NYT)