In new a new turn of events, anonymous sources from the White House possibly officials state that Trump has given the consent to release the Memo that would unveil the Federal Bureau of Investigations’ (FBI’s) and White House Justice Department’s gross misconduct. The delinquency is said to have happened during the initial stages of an investigation into possible ties between Trump’s 2016 campaign and Russia.
The House Intelligence Committee is responsible for bringing the memo into light after it voted for the document to be declassified. However, it is the House Intelligence Committee’s task to classify such documents in light of shielding vital information and protecting intelligence sources against the public. But contrary to their mandate, on Monday, the Republican contingent in the committee voted for the Memo to be declassified and released for the public’s information.
Developing Skeptics on the Memo
An anonymous official from the White House reiterated that Congress might get wind of the new development – Memo release on Friday. He added that Trump was fine with the release of the memo. A second White House official, who also wished to remain anonymous, added that the president is likely to declassify the memo but the actual method through which the memo will be released to the public is still under discussions. The official said that after declassification the memo is likely to be given to Congress to present without any redactions in the document.
The House Intelligence Committee voted along party lines on Monday as the Republicans won on the decision to release the Memo. The panel gave Trump five days to decide on whether to release the memo or not. It is also evident that Trump has the powers to declassify the document and release.
Trump defies FBI and Justice Department
Trump is set to release the memo against strong objections from the White House Justice Department and the FBI. Christopher Wray, Director FBI advised the president to withhold the memo. Wray is in his early tenure at the FBI after his predecessor James Comey was fired a few months ago. Trump’s decision to go against his advice implicates the president’s defiance against the FBI Director. It also portrays Wray’s low-key demeanor to challenge Donald Trump.
Democrats are against Trump’s release of the memo. They aver that the memo is an attempt to distract attention away from the Russia probe. Even with last-minute attempts by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee to defer the memo release, their efforts were ignored.
