Trump Admin Says FISA Memo Will 'Likely' Be Released Thursday
A classified memo created by GOP members on the House Intelligence Committee could be made public as early as Thursday, according to a Trump administration official.
Citing the anonymous official, Reuters reported that the memo is “likely to be released on Thursday.”
The news comes after days of controversy over whether or not the four-page document, which some members of Congress have said details abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act under the Obama administration, should be made public.
On Monday, the House Intelligence Committee voted along party lines to release the controversial memo, thus giving President Donald Trump five days to object to its release.
Following his State of the Union address on Tuesday, Trump was caught on a hot mic saying he will “100 percent” approve of the document’s release.
As Trump was shaking hands with lawmakers after delivering his speech, a live camera feed caught Republican Rep. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina saying, “Let’s release the memo.”
“Don’t worry, 100 percent,” Trump replied, while smiling. “Can you imagine?”
The next day, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said on Fox News Radio that the White House would release the memo “quickly.”
“It will be released here pretty quick, I think, and then the whole world can see it,” Kelly said, adding that both he and the White House counsel had looked over the document, according to The Daily Caller.
Democrats, though, particular Rep. Adam Schiff of California — the ranking member of the intelligence committee — have warned against the memo’s release.
“Today this committee voted to put the president’s personal interests, perhaps their own political interests, above the national interests,” he said Monday, announcing the committee’s vote to the media.
Moreover, the FBI said Wednesday it has “grave concerns” about the document’s accuracy.
“The FBI was provided a limited opportunity to review this memo the day before the committee voted to release it,” the bureau said in a statement. “As expressed during our initial review, we have grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.”
But House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, who oversaw the creation of the memo, quickly fired back.
“It’s clear that top officials used unverified information in a court document to fuel a counter-intelligence investigation during an American political campaign,” Nunes said, according to The Daily Wire.
“Once the truth gets out, we can begin taking steps to ensure our intelligence agencies and courts are never misused like this again.”
Also, citing a source familiar with the matter, Fox News reported Wednesday that two senior bureau officials who had looked over the memo did not find any “factual inaccuracies” in it.
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