President Donald Trump responded to the accusations made by the Democrat leaders of applying double standard regarding his decision not to declassify the Democratic counter-memo meant to rebut a GOP document alleging surveillance abuses from the FBI and the Justice Department.
“The Democrats sent a very political and long response memo which they knew, because of sources and methods (and more), would have to be heavily redacted, whereupon they would blame the White House for lack of transparency,” he tweeted.
“Told them to re-do and send back in proper form!”
The White House announced Friday that President Trump is not ready to approve the release of the Democratic memo meant to rebut a document he declassified last week that was authored by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee.
According to The Hill, White House counsel Don McGahn wrote a letter to House Intelligence Committee chairman Devin Nunes explaining that “although the president is inclined to declassify” the Democratic memo, the administration believes it would create “especially significant concerns” for “national security and law enforcement interests.”
Trump’s legal team claimed that the decision was made at the most professional level by senior officials at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Justice (DOJ). McGahn also sent an additional letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray where he highlighted the information the White House found to be problematic.
Meanwhile the White House offered to work with the House Intelligence Committee to make a revision of the Democratic memo which later can be resubmitted for declassification.
The top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff said that the Democrats sitting on the committee are going to review the recommended redactions to the memo.
The Democratic memo is intended to rebut a GOP document released earlier this month that alleges the FBI and the Department of Justice abusing their authority in order to obtain a surveillance order on a former Trump campaign adviser.
Although Trump previously declared that the Republican memo “totally vindicates” him, both the FBI and the Democrats dismissed his claims and criticized the Republican memo for being carefully crafted for the sole purpose of undermining the Russia investigation conducted by the two departments.
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