President Trump is making a behind-the-scenes push to release a classified House Intelligence Committee memo – despite Justice Department warnings that doing so would be “extraordinarily reckless.”
Trump’s interest in making the memo public was conveyed Wednesday to Attorney General Jeff Sessions by White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, according to a report in the Washington Post.
House Republicans who have read the document claim that it reveals politically motivated behavior at the FBI and Justice Department during the Obama administration resulted in improper surveillance of Trump’s presidential campaign.
Some in the GOP believe the memo could derail Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential campaign.
Trump “is inclined to have that released just because it will shed light,” a senior administration official told the Washington Post in a story posted Saturday.
“Apparently all the rumors are that … it will help the investigators come to a conclusion,” the official said.
The House Intelligence Committee has the power to release the four-page document, which was prepared for committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes based on highly classified documents.
Whether the memo is made public is ultimately up to Congress. But under Congressional rules, the president has the power to block the memo’s release.
Trump’s Wednesday message indicates that if the House panel votes to make it public, he will not stand in the way. A committee vote is expected this week.