Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee are warming up to the idea of voting to release a four-page memo that alleges FBI and Justice Department abuses related to the infamous Steele dossier and secret surveillance warrants obtained by the Obama administration.
“Based on feedback from members who’ve seen the memo, [House Intelligence Committee] Republicans moving strongly in direction of publishing it,” a source from the committee told The Daily Caller on Tuesday.
Last week, Republicans on the committee voted to provide the mysterious memo to all members of Congress. Over the past several days, more than 200 lawmakers — nearly all of them Republican — have visited a secure facility on Capitol Hill to view the document.
The memo was put together by Republicans on the committee, including California Rep. Devin Nunes — the committee chairman, South Carolina Rep. Trey Gowdy and top staffers. Gowdy said Tuesday that the information in the memo was taken from documents provided by the FBI and Justice Department.
Democrats have downplayed the memo, calling it “talking points” created by Republicans to undermine Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s Russia investigation.
Lawmakers who have seen the memo have called its contents “alarming.” But because the memo contains classified information, lawmakers have been hesitant to discuss its allegations. It is believed that the memo details the FBI and DOJ’s handling of the Democrat-funded dossier, including its use in a surveillance warrant taken out under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) against Trump campaign adviser Carter Page prior to the election.
While Republicans on the Intel Committee voted unanimously to release the memo to Congress last week, they had been split on whether to allow the public to see it. But pressure increased over the weekend after a group of dozens of Republicans called on Nunes to release the memo. The hashtag #ReleaseTheMemo also began trending on Twitter.
A majority of the 22-member Intel panel would have to approve the release of the memo. Thirteen members of the committee are Republican.
If Republicans vote together to release the memo, President Trump would have to sign-off before it could be provided to the public.
A date for a potential vote has not been set.
http://dailycaller.com/2018/01/23/republicans-on-house-intel-moving-strongly-towards-releasing-nunes-fisa-memo/
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