Russiagate fallout! Republican Committee chair admits to altering classified memo on ‘FBI misconduct’ after vote – potential wrench in White House bid to approve publication today
Republican admits he changed the classified memo on ‘FBI misconduct’ after vote
News could delay White House bid to green light publication which Trump administration says will prove improper use of surveillance and bias by the FBI in its Russia investigation
Top Democrat on the House intelligence committee says a vote earlier this week to release a classified memo to the public is invalid
Ranking minority Intelligence Committee member, Adam Schiff [D-Calif], sent a letter to chairman Devin Nunes [R-Calif], late Wednesday charging document had been ‘secretly altered’
Schiff says Republicans changed part of the document before sending it to the White House for review – Says it was ‘secretly altered’
House Intelligence Committee Republicans don’t want the White House to block the public release of a classified memo they voted to share with the public
The panel voted Monday to publicly release the memo, part of a GOP effort to counter the weight and discredit the Mueller Russia probe
Justice Dept and FBI both have expressed ‘grave concerns’ about its release
Memo reportedly outlines how a wiretap warrant was obtained partly on the basis of the anti-Trump ‘dirty dossier’ funded by Democrats in 2016
Chairman Nunes said nay sayers are ‘complaining about minor edits to the memo, requested by FBI and Democrats
Trump overheard after SOTU Tuesday telling friends the memo ‘will 100% be released’
Ranking Democrat on House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff [right], sent a letter to committee chairman Devin Nunes [left], late Wednesday that charged the memo containing classified information about supposed surveillance of the Trump campaign was secretly ‘altered’ by Republicans
The political infighting in Washington continued Wednesday over the expected release of a classified memo, which has been dubbed ‘explosive’ exposing the innards of FBI handling of the Russia probe. The release is highly anticipated by the majority Republican party and the White House, while the minority Democrats have sided the intelligence agency and the Department of Justice in vehement opposition to the memo seeing the light of day.
In the latest twist, the GOP Intelligence Committee chair, Rep. Devin Nunes [R-Calif], admitted making changes before sending it to President Trump.
Following a party-line vote at the Intelligence panel, Trump is reviewing the memo – with White House sources indicating it could get the green light for release as soon as today.
But the timetable was thrown into uncertainty last night when ranking Democrat Adam Schiff of California blasted the release – and revealed that the panel majority had made changes to the document after a vote to release it and before sending it to the White House.
Downplaying the significance, a spokesman for chairman Nunes accused Democrats of ‘complaining about minor edits to the memo, including grammatical fixes and two edits requested by the FBI and by the minority themselves.
Ranking Democrat on House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff sent a letter to House intelligence committee chairman Nunes late Wednesday claiming theversion of the document sent to the White House was secretly ‘altered’ by Republicans
House Intelligence chairman Rep. Devin Nunes – ‘Democrats were ‘complaining about minor edits to the memo, including grammatical fixes and two edits requested by the FBI and by the minority themselves’
Ranking member Adam Schiff [D-Calif], sent a letter to House intelligence committee chairman Nunes late Wednesday that charged the memo containing classified information about supposed surveillance of the Trump campaign was ‘altered’ by Republicans.
Responding through his spokesman Jack Langer, Nunes insisted the vote allowing release was ‘procedurally sound,’ Langer said.
‘To suggest otherwise is a bizarre distraction from the abuses detailed in the memo, which the public will hopefully soon be able to read for themselves.’
President Donald Trump has already indicated he favors release of the memo – despite unprecedented public pushback by the FBI and internal lobbying by his own Justice Department, who have appealed to White House Chief Of Staff, Gen Kelly to stop the release.
Trump reportedly, has told friends he believes release of the controversial memo will reveal bias in the FBI and could help discredit the Russia probe, CNN reported.
‘The president has been really, really adamant about wanting this to come out … He wants it out. Full stop,’ an administration insider is quoted as saying.
Seen as part of a GOP grand scheme to discredit ‘Russiagate’, Democrats have kicked against the release of the memo. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the House intelligence committee, yesterday said a vote earlier this week to release the classified memo to the public is invalid because Republicans changed part of the document before sending it to the White House for review.
Schiff sent a letter to Nunes late Wednesday that charged the document had been ‘secretly altered’ by Nunes after the vote.

Former CIA director John Brennan retweeted a posting by Schiff that the memo release could lead to another ‘Saturday Night Massacre,’ a reference to a Watergate purge.
‘I had many fights with Congressional Dems over the years on national security matters,’ Brennan wrote. ‘But I never witnessed the type of reckless partisan behavior I am now seeing from Nunes and House Republicans. Absence of moral and ethical leadership in WH is fueling this government crisis.’
Assistant Attorney General Steven Boyd wrote Nunes last week asking that the Committee refrain from voting to release the memo until the Department of Justice and the FBI had a chance to review it.
The House committee went ahead and approved to publicly release the memo, part of a GOP effort to prove improper use of surveillance by the FBI in its Russia investigation.
Trump appointed FBI head Christopher Wray and the agency have made a concerted public push to deter the release of the classified memo, expressing ‘grave concerns’ about its release
Along partisan lines the panel of the House intelligence committee voted Monday to publicly release the memo, part of a GOP effort to prove improper use of surveillance by the FBI in its Russia investigation.
The Committee’s Republicans voted in favor of the release. The Committee’s Democrats voted to keep the memo classified.
President Trump has five days from the vote to review the document.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer – “It’s clear that Chairman Nunes will seemingly stop at nothing to undermine the rule of law and interfere with the Russia probe”
“He’s been willing to carry the White House’s water, attack our law enforcement and intelligence officials, and now to mislead his House colleagues.”
President Donald Trump has five days from the vote to review the document.
President Trump seen applauding himself at the 2018 SOTU, reportedly told friends release of the memo will help discredit Russia probe
In comments reported by The Hill, Schumer accused Nunes of trying to undermine the rule of law by attempting to ‘interfere with the Russia probe.’
In his statement, Schumer called on House Speaker Paul Ryan, the Wisconsin Republican, to challenge Nunes and the other Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee.
‘If Speaker Ryan cares about the integrity of the House or the rule of law, he will put an end to this charade once and for all,’ Schumer said.
White House chief of staff John Kelly said Wednesday that the public will soon see the classified memo that reportedly spells out election year surveillance abuses by the Obama administration.
President Donald Trump was overheard Tuesday after SOTU reassuring Rep. Jeff Duncan [R-SC], he would ‘100 per cent’ release the memo
Chief of Staff John Kelly, [left], said on Fox News Radio, Wednesday, that the controversial classified intelligence memo will be ‘released pretty quick’ by the White House
The memo, which the House Intelligence Committee has voted along party lines to release, outlines wrongdoing by the FBI in its investigation of alleged collusion by the Trump campaign and Russian agents.
‘It will be released here pretty quick, I think, and the whole world can see it,’ Kelly said Wednesday of the document, compiled by Nunes.
Kelly appeared on Fox News Radio’s ‘The Brian Kilmeade Show.’
Trump told a GOP congressman after Tuesday night’s State of the Union Address that he is ‘100 per cent ‘ in favor of releasing the memo.
White House aides have previously said Trump favored releasing the document, which is in contrast to the stance of the Justice Department.
A number of conservatives favor releasing the memo, which they believe could discredit the findings of the investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russian officials.
Emphasising the GOP commitment to the release, White House Chief of Staff John Kelly said Wednesday on Fox News Radio that the controversial classified intelligence memo will be ‘released pretty quick’ by the White House
Leave a Reply