Trump won’t declassify Democrats’ Russia memo

WASHINGTON — Citing national security concerns, the White House on Friday formally notified the House intelligence committee that U.S. President Donald Trump is “unable” to declassify a memo drafted by Democrats that counters Republican allegations about abuse of government surveillance powers in the FBI’s Russia probe.

White House counsel Don McGahn said in a letter to the committee that the memo contains “numerous properly classified and especially sensitive passages” and asked the intelligence panel to revise the memo with the help of the Justice Department. He said Trump is still “inclined” to release the memo in the interest of transparency if revisions are made.

The president’s rejection of the Democratic memo is in contrast to his enthusiastic embrace of releasing the Republican document, which he pledged before reading to make public. The president declassified the document last week, allowing its publication in full over the objections of the Justice Department.

The top Democrat on the intelligence panel, California Rep. Adam Schiff, criticized Trump for treating the two documents differently, saying the president is now seeking revisions by the same committee that produced the original Republican memo.

Still, Schiff said, Democrats “look forward to conferring with the agencies to determine how we can properly inform the American people about the misleading attack on law enforcement by the GOP and address any concerns over sources and methods.”

Trump has said the Republican memo “vindicates” him in the ongoing Russia investigation led by special counsel Robert Mueller. Congressional Democrats and Republicans, including House Speaker Paul Ryan and Rep. Trey Gowdy of South Carolina, who helped draft the Republican memo, have said it shouldn’t be used to undermine the special counsel.