FBI statement expresses 'grave concerns' with accuracy of secret GOP memo
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The FBI is clashing with House Republicans over the planned release of a secret GOP memo that reportedly targets the bureau and the Justice Department for their handling over a surveillance request of a former campaign adviser of President Donald Trump.
In a statement released Wednesday, the FBI said it has “grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy.” The New York Times, the Washington Post, Politico and BuzzFeed News have stories.
The House Intelligence Committee voted Monday to effectively declassify the memo and make it public. Trump has five days to decide whether to block the release.
The president said Tuesday evening that he would “100 percent” agree to the release in a conversation with a Republican lawmaker that was picked up on cameras after the State of the Union address.
White House spokesperson Sarah Huckabee Sanders was more cautious in a CNN interview Wednesday morning. She said there were no current plans to release the memo and Trump had not yet been briefed on its contents when he commented on Tuesday.
White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, however, said in radio interview later Wednesday that the memo will “be released here pretty quick” after lawyers complete their review.
The memo reportedly says the Justice Department relied on information from former British spy Christopher Steele, the author of the unverified Russia dossier, when it initially asked the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to approve surveillance of Carter Page. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein approved extension of the surveillance last spring.
The FBI statement said the agency follows legal requirements in its FISA court requests.
“The FBI takes seriously its obligations to the FISA Court and its compliance with procedures overseen by career professionals in the Department of Justice and the FBI. We are committed to working with the appropriate oversight entities to ensure the continuing integrity of the FISA process,’’ the statement said.
