A classified memo by congressional Democrats related to investigations of Russian influence in the 2016 US presidential election is “very political and long” and must be “heavily redacted” before it could be released, US President Donald Trump said on Twitter on Saturday.
The release of the memo was blocked by Trump on Friday, kicking off a new skirmish between Democrats and the White House. Written by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee, it was intended to rebut a Republican document made public last week with Trump’s consent, Reuters reported.
The memo by committee Republicans claimed bias against Trump by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Justice Department in the federal investigation of Russia and the 2016 US election.
The Intelligence Committee had voted unanimously on Monday to release the document drafted by the panel’s Democrats, contingent on the Republican president agreeing.
“The Democrats sent a very political and long response memo which they knew, because of sources and methods (and more), would have to be heavily redacted, whereupon they would blame the White House for lack of transparency,” Trump tweeted. “Told them to re-do and send back in proper form!”
Trump’s decision to block the release of the memo infuriated Democrats, who said it showed a double standard on transparency on the part of the Republican president.
House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, in a statement posted on Twitter, called on Democrats to accept the Justice Department’s recommendations and “make the appropriate technical changes and redactions” so that the memo can be declassified as soon as possible.
