Trump blocks the release of Democrats’ FBI probe memo

President says rebuttal of Republican document threatens national security

WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump on Friday refused to authorize the release of a Democratic rebuttal to a controversial Republican memo alleging the FBI and Department of Justice abused their power to conduct surveillance of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

In a letter to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., the White House said it could not release the Democrats’ memo because the Justice Department “has identified portions ... which it believes would create especially significant concerns for the national security and law enforcement interests.”

Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee say the GOP memo is an attempt to mislead Americans about how the agencies obtained a warrant to wiretap Page.

The Democratic members, led by Rep. Adam Schiff of California, say the FBI and Justice Department did nothing wrong in investigating Page’s ties to Russia.

Democrats have been pushing to formally refute the GOP memo, which they see as an effort by Trump and his allies in Congress to divert attention from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians, and possible obstruction of justice by the president.

Republicans say their memo proves bias against Trump by top officials in the FBI and Justice Department.

The GOP memo — released Feb. 2 by Republicans over the strong objections of the FBI — was written by the House Intelligence Committee’s GOP staff at the request of Nunes.

“We think this (Democratic memo) will help inform the public of the many distortions and inaccuracies in the (Republican) memo,” Schiff told reporters after Monday’s vote.

The Nunes memo alleges that FBI and Justice Department officials relied on an unsubstantiated dossier compiled by former British spy Christopher Steele to get a warrant to conduct surveillance of Page, who served on the Trump campaign’s foreign policy advisory team.

Schiff, a former prosecutor, said the FBI had plenty of reasons to be worried about Page’s contacts to Russia beyond the dossier.

The FBI’s interest in Page and his possible ties to Russia date back to 2013, when federal investigators were concerned that Page had been targeted by Russian intelligence agents for recruitment. That case came three years before the 2016 surveillance order described in the Nunes memo.