A classified memo compiled by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee was not authorized for release by President Donald Trump because it revealed too much about sources and methods, White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said on Fox News Monday.
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“This Democratic memo does not keep American lives safe. It reveals serious national security information that could quite frankly put our lives at risk and the president is not going to do that,” Gidley declared.
The memo was compiled in response to its Republican counterpart which alleges broad abuse of FISA authority by top officials in the Department of Justice and the FBI. Democrats say their memo will push back and add key context to the document released by Devin Nunes and other House Intel Republicans.
The Republican memo found that the FBI and the Department of Justice did not disclose the political origins of the Steele dossier in its FISA application on Trump campaign associate Carter Page and revealed previously undisclosed testimony from former FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe, in which he confirmed that an investigation into Page would not have occurred without the dossier.
The White House told Congress Friday Trump would not release the Democratic memo saying “although the President is inclined to declassify the February 5th [Democratic] Memorandum, because the Memorandum contains numerous properly classified and especially sensitive passages, he is unable to do so at this time.”
The White House continued that it would allow the FBI to provide technical assistance to Democrats to produce a non-objectionable version of the memo.
“The Executive Branch stands ready to review any subsequent draft of the February 5th Memorandum for declassification at the earliest opportunity,” White House counsel Don McGahn declared.