Trump likely to approve release of Dem memo: report

by Brandon Carter - 02/06/18 4:10 PM ET

President Trump is likely to approve the release of a Democratic memo rebutting a GOP document that alleged abuse of surveillance power at the Justice Department, according to a new report.

White House officials told The Associated Press that the Democratic rebuttal to the Republican memo is likely to be returned to the committee this week for its release.

The officials also told the AP that the Democratic document is likely to require some redactions before its release.

{mosads}White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said Tuesday that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein met with Trump to discuss the differences between the Democratic and Republican memos, but wouldn’t say if Trump was for or against releasing the Democratic document.

White House chief of staff John Kelly told reporters that Trump will be briefed on the contents of the documents Tuesday, but that Trump hasn’t read the full document because “it’s pretty lengthy.”

The House Intelligence Committee voted unanimously on Monday to release the Democratic memo.

The Democrats’ 10-page document alleges that the GOP memo used incomplete information to make misleading conclusions about the FBI’s application for a surveillance warrant for former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

Trump has until Friday to block the release of the document, which is still classified.

Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, said he’s concerned the White House will make “political redactions” to the Democratic memo before its release.

“That is, not redactions that protect sources or methods, which we’ve asked the Department of Justice and the FBI to do, but redactions to remove information they think is unfavorable to the president,” Schiff said on CNN. “That could be a real problem and that’s our main concern at this point.”

The decision comes after Trump approved the release of the Republican memo, authored by staff members of House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), last week.