Trump: Dem memo proves ‘illegal’ things were done

President Trump on Saturday claimed that the House Intelligence Committee Democrats’ memo proves that the FBI and Justice Department committed “terrible” and “illegal” acts.

“The Democrat memo response on government surveillance abuses is a total political and legal BUST,” the president tweeted. “Just confirms all of the terrible things that were done. SO ILLEGAL!”

The Democrat memo response on government surveillance abuses is a total political and legal BUST. Just confirms all of the terrible things that were done. SO ILLEGAL!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 24, 2018

The Democrats on the committee released their redacted memo on Saturday, which rebuts the claims made in a GOP memo released earlier this month. The GOP memo accused FBI and Justice Department officials of abusing a surveillance program to improperly spy on the Trump campaign. 

{mosads}The GOP memo, while alleging abuses and anti-Trump bias within the agencies, did not say that any of the activity was criminal.

After its release, Trump claimed that the GOP memo “totally vindicates” him in the investigation into whether his campaign colluded with Russia while he was a candidate.

The White House responded to the Democratic memo earlier Saturday, saying it “fails to answer serious concerns” raised in the GOP memo.

The White House’s statement said that Trump supported the release of the Democrats’ memo, despite his previous refusal to declassify it for publication earlier this month.