President ‘unable’ to release memo
Citing national security concerns, the White House yesterday formally notified the House Intelligence Committee that US 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 the memo contained ‘‘numerous properly classified and especially sensitive passages’’’,
WASHINGTON
They also raised questions about how seriously the president takes allegations of domestic abuse.
Also yesterday, a second White House staffer, speechwriter David Sorensen, resigned as a result of abuse allegations.
Spokesman Raj Shah said the White House learned about the allegations on Friday before being contacted by the media. ‘‘We immediately confronted the and asked the Democrats to revise the memo with the help of the Justice Department.
He said Trump was still ‘‘inclined’’ to release the memo in the interests of transparency if revisions were made.
The president’s rejection of the Democratic memo is in contrast to his enthusiastic embrace of releasing a Republican memo last week, staffer, he denied the allegations and he resigned today.’’
Sorensen worked for the Council on Environmental Quality, which is part of the Executive Office of the President.
Kelly, meanwhile, tried to push his own timeline, repeating a narrative he had presented at a senior staff meeting that contradicts accounts provided by multiple White House officials. over the objections of the FBI, which said it had ‘‘grave concerns’’ about the document’s accuracy.
The president has said the GOP memo ‘‘vindicates’’ him in the ongoing Russia investigation led by Special Counsel Robert Mueller. Trump had until today to decide whether to allow the classified material to become public. AP
Kelly said he found out only on Wednesday that the accusations against Porter were true. ‘‘Forty minutes later, he was gone.’’
He said the decision was made before photos of one of Porter’s exwives with a black eye were published. White House officials have said it was Thursday’s release of the photos on Thursday that sealed Porter’s fate. He resigned later that day. AP