A cadre of conservative Republican legislators wants to release a classified House Intelligence Committee memo that they say shows the Obama administration spied on President Trump’s 2016 campaign.
Sixty-five GOP representatives signed a letter asking the committee’s chair, Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), to release a memo he wrote that alleges the Obama administration spooks improperly got search warrants to snoop on Trump’s campaign and transition.
Democrats dismiss the memo — based on still-secret documents — as a smear against Trump’s political enemies.
Moderate Republicans — including Rep. Peter King of Long Island — fear releasing the memo could harm national security.
The House Intelligence Committee voted along party lines Thursday to let all members of Congress view the Nunes memo, a three-page report based in part on information so highly classified that the document must be held in a secure room within the US Capitol.
Several legislators have issued dark hints of what it contains.
“If we get this memo into the public square, heads are going to roll at the FBI and the Justice Department,” Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) told Fox News on Friday.
Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee called the document “a misleading set of talking points attacking the FBI,” and senior US intelligence officials have denied that they conducted any improper surveillance.