California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff criticized Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee over the possible release of a controversial FISA memo in an op-ed Wednesday.
In a Washington Post opinion piece, Schiff said releasing the four-page FISA memo, which alleges top officials in the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) misled a federal surveillance court in order to obtain a spy warrant against a former President Donald Trump campaign adviser, would be dangerous to release to the public and “smears” the reputation of the FBI and DOJ.
“On Monday, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) moved to release a memo written by his staff that cherry-picks facts, ignores others and smears the FBI and the Justice Department — all while potentially revealing intelligence sources and methods,” Schiff wrote.
Schiff, the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, also said Republicans broke the committee’s “nonpartisan tradition” for Trump by voting to release the memo. (RELATED: House Intel Committee Votes To Release Spy Memo)
“The party-line vote to release the Republican memo but not a Democratic response was a violent break from the committee’s nonpartisan tradition and the latest troubling sign that House Republicans are willing to put the president’s political dictates ahead of the national interest,” he said.
Schiff also compared Trump to former President Richard Nixon and the Watergate scandal, saying the only thing different between the two is the way the media has treated them. The democratic congressman believes Trump has been shielded by the media, although there has still been no evidence Trump broke the law in any way.
“However, unlike President Richard Nixon, who waged his Watergate fight without the same kind of vocal allies, Trump not only has an entire media ecosystem dedicated to shielding him from accountability but also senior Republicans who on the Hill have cast aside their duty to uphold the law and perform oversight in favor of protecting the Trump presidency — no matter the cost,” Schiff wrote.
The op-ed comes one day after Trump’s first State Of The Union Address, where he told South Carolina Republican Rep. Jeff Duncan that he would 100 percent release the memo.
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