President Trump will thumb his nose at the FBI and Justice Department and release a memo that accuses the bureau of illegally spying on one of the commander-in-chief’s ex-advisers, Fox News reported Thursday.
The White House will declassify the latest version, which sources told the network included “technical edits” at the request of the FBI, though the timing remains unclear.
The FBI said Wednesday it had “grave concerns” about releasing the memo — setting up a showdown between the Justice Department and the president, who hand-picked the bureau’s current director, Christopher Wray, after firing James Comey.
Trump recently told pals that the memo bolsters his belief that accusations of collusion between his campaign and Russia are a “hoax,” “fake news” and part of “a witch hunt” to discredit his election.
But the feds insist that all proper procedures were followed when they sought to renew a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act warrant for former Trump adviser Carter Page, who had been on their radar for years over his connections with Kremlin-connected Russians.
And Democrats say the memo’s author, California Rep. Devin Nunes, chair of the House Intelligence Committee, is a Trump ally who cherry-picked details to create a bogus narrative favorable to the president.
Rep. Adam Schiff, the top Democrat on the committee, scoffed at Nunes’ memo, and charged that the version given to the White House was different from the one passed on a party-line vote Monday.