Trump Reportedly Told Aides He Wants Nunes Memo Released ASAP After State of the Union
If you were wondering if the president was going to agree to publicly release the controversial Nunes memo that purports to show FISA abuses in the Russia probe, you need wait no longer.
According to CNN, the President Donald Trump has told his aides that he would like the document to be released as soon as possible, but not before tonight’s State of the Union address. It might even be possible that we will see the four-page memo by the end of the evening.
Following a concerted #ReleaseTheMemo effort by House Republicans and Trump loyalists, GOP members of the House Intelligence Committee voted to make the document based on classified information publicly available. This was despite Associate Attorney General Stephen Boyd — a Trump appointee — stating it would be extraordinarily “reckless” for the Nunes-produced doc to be released. Trump was reportedly livid after Boyd sent that letter.
Meanwhile, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) — ranking member of the House Intel Committee — has railed against the decision, stating that the Republican committee members voted against allowing a Democratic memo that disputes Nunes’ claims to be released in conjunction. He also warned about releasing the Nunes memo without the corroborating intelligence, stating it would be highly misleading.
UPDATE 4:09 PM ET: White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders pushed back against CNN’s report, stating that there are “no current plans” to release the memo and that the president hasn’t seen the memo yet.
New, from Sarah Sanders: “Contrary to a published report, there are no current plans to release the House Intelligence Committee’s memo. The President has not seen or been briefed on the memo or reviewed its contents.”
— Eamon Javers (@EamonJavers) January 30, 2018
Watch the clip above, via CNN.
[image via screengrab]
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