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On Wednesday, as Republicans were clamoring to make public a secret document they think will undercut the investigation into Russian meddling, President Trump made clear his desire: Release the memo.
House Intel meets Monday and could vote on memo release — is Jeff Sessions softening his stance?Washington Examiner, Jan 28, 2018, Byron YorkThe House Intelligence Committee meets at 5 p.m. Monday in the Capitol. The meeting will give the committee its first opportunity to vote on the question of releasing the so-called "FISA abuse" memo that has captured Washington's attention in recent days. Since the GOP holds a 13 to 9 advantage on the committee, the overwhelming likelihood is that if there is a vote, the panel will decide, along party lines, to release the memo.At that point, House rules call for the committee to await a decision by the president on whether he supports or opposes release of the memo. President Trump has made clear he supports release, so the memo could be made public quickly.The public might also learn committee Democrats' plans for a counter-memo. Ranking member Rep. Adam Schiff has accused Republicans of cherry-picking and distorting the intelligence underlying the GOP memo, and last Wednesday announced that Democrats would "draft our own memorandum, setting out the relevant facts and exposing the misleading character of the Republicans' document."Schiff said that at Monday's meeting he will move for a committee vote to make the Democratic memorandum available to all members of the House — a mirror image of the committee's Jan. 18 vote to make the Republican memo available to the House.More: http://www.washingtonexaminer.com/byron-york-house-intel-meets-monday-memo-vote-possible-sessions-softening/article/2647342
House Democrats write memo to counter GOP’s take on Russia probe, attacks on FBIWashington Post, Jan 24, 2018, Karoun DemirjianDemocrats on the House Intelligence Committee have drafted a document they say will counter Republican efforts to discredit the FBI probe into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential campaign.The panel’s top Democrat, Adam B. Schiff (Calif.), intends to ask the panel Monday to allow all House members to read the minority’s take on how the FBI and Justice Department handled sensitive information in the Russia investigation. Committee members voted last week to provide lawmakers with access to a GOP memo that suggests federal investigators conducted surveillance in 2016 on people close to President Trump based on bad information procured from a now-famous dossier containing allegations of financial and personal ties between Trump and the Kremlin.“We need to produce our own memo that lays out the actual facts and show how the majority memo distorts the work of the FBI and the Department of Justice,†Schiff said in a telephone interview. If the GOP goes public with its document, he added, Democrats would insist that their memo also be publicized. “I don’t support that step,†Schiff said, noting his concern that releasing any of this information could have diplomatic and intelligence-gathering repercussions.https://www.washingtonpost.com/powerpost/house-democrats-plan-memo-to-counter-gops-as-calls-to-declassify-files-grow/2018/01/24/3161b48c-0146-11e8-bb03-722769454f82_story.html?utm_term=.03ef183acc8e
