Democrats refute Republicans’ charge

– The Democratic minority on the US House of Representatives Intelligence Committee on Saturday released a response to Republican charges that the FBI and Justice Department have abused the law in their investigation of possible ties between Russia and Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.

The Democrats’ 10-page memo calls an earlier Republican version “a transparent effort to undermine” the FBI, the Justice Department, Special Counsel Robert Mueller, and congressional probes into possible collusion between Russia and the Trump

Washington

campaign.

The Republican memo, the Democrats allege, “also risks public exposure of sensitive sources and methods for no legitimate purpose.”

The Democratic memo and a Republican counterattack that included a point-by-point refutation of the minority Democrats’ conclusions, are an escalation of the partisan feuding that Adam Schiff of the Intelligence Committee, and other members of his party have said is sabotaging the House committee’s investigation.

The latest duel comes as Mueller’s investigation gathers steam, including a guilty plea on Friday from Richard Gates, Trump’s deputy campaign manager.

In a message posted on Twitter, Trump responded: “The Democrat memo response on government surveillance abuses is a total political and legal BUST. Just confirms all of the terrible things that were done. SO ILLEGAL!”

The Democrats say the Republicans omitted facts in their document that undermine their allegation that the FBI conducted improper surveillance of campaign aide Carter Page, “whom the FBI said was an agent of the Russian government.” – Reuters