U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he thinks it’s a good idea to release the contentious secret memo,
U.S. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas said Tuesday the contentious secret memorandum on the FBI’s investigation of Russia should be made public.
The House Intelligence Committee recommended it be released, despite Justice Department warnings that doing so would be reckless, and now President Donald Trump has until the end of the week to decide whether to make it public. The panel’s chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., authored the four page memo, which has roiled Democrats and Republicans, and the committee vote was along party lines.
“I haven’t seen the memo,” Cornyn, a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, told reporters Tuesday. “I have been briefed on it and I do believe that there is reason to believe that this is an important part of the restoration of the FBI’s reputation.”
At issue for many Republicans is how the FBI dealt with information from a dossier about Trump’s relationship with the Russians. A special counsel is now investigating the meddling of Russians in the 2016 presidential election.
“And I do think, just on what’s already been in the public, the American people have some reason to believe that there was misconduct there that should be corrected and hopefully the FBI and the Department of Justice will ultimately regain their reputation as an objective law enforcement agency, and not one engaged in politics,” Cornyn said. The FBI comes under the jurisdiction of the Justice Department.
“So, if in the judgment of the House Intelligence Committee, they think this will help in that process, I support it,” said Cornyn of releasing the memo.
Cornyn, the No. 2 Senate Republican and a former Texas attorney general and Texas Supreme Court justice, was believed to be an early favorite to replace fired FBI Director James Comey.
Asked if he had turned down the FBI director job last May, Cornyn said, “I was never offered the job. I was considered for the job but, in the end, I told the president that I would be more helpful to his administration and certainly to Texas by staying in the Senate, particularly given my position as the majority whip. And I think that prediction’s been borne out, at least in my opinion.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and other GOP senators usually allied with Cornyn were against having Cornyn, a partisan political figure, take over the FBI.
“I believe Christopher Wray is a great choice for FBI director, and I think he’s doing what we would expect every FBI director to do, and that’s to make sure that politics has no influence on the activities of the FBI,” Cornyn said.