President Trump likely will OK House GOP memo release Friday

WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump on Friday probably will approve release of a classified Republican memo on alleged FBI abuses in the Russia probe, despite FBI Director Christopher Wray’s strong objections, a senior administration official said Thursday.

Trump made his decision after reviewing the memo in the past few days to ensure it does not “give away too much” classified information, the official told reporters returning with the president aboard Air Force One after a Republican retreat in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia.

“The president is OK with it,” the official said. “I doubt there will be any redactions. It’s in Congress’ hands after that.”

Trump has until Saturday to make a decision under a never-before-used law invoked by the House intelligence committee’s Republican majority, which wrote the four-page document and voted Monday to release it unless the president chooses to keep it secret.

Trump also has the power to declassify the memo himself and either release it or give it to Congress to release. One of the White House officials said the memo would be in Congress’ hands after Trump declassified it and that there were unlikely to be any redactions.

The FBI on Wednesday said it had “grave concerns” about the memo’s accuracy and urged it be withheld. Assistant U.S. Attorney General Stephen Boyd last week called release of the memo without vetting “extraordinarily reckless.” He said he was unaware of any “wrongdoing” by the FBI.

Democrats said Republicans created the memo to distract attention from investigations by congressional committees and special counsel Robert Mueller into Russian meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

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Republicans have stepped up attacks on the Justice Department as Mueller’s probe has moved closer to Trump and his inner circle, including whether his campaign coordinated with Russia or whether he tried to obstruct justice by, among other actions, firing Wray’s predecessor, James Comey.

Trump told confidants in recent days that he believes the memo will validate his assertions that the FBI and Justice Department conspired against him, according to one outside adviser familiar with those conversations but not authorized to speak publicly about private discussions.

Trump also has told allies he believes the memo bolsters his belief that allegations of collusion between his campaign and Russian officials are false and are part of a conspiracy to discredit his election.

The memo emerged from the intense partisan battle within the House intelligence committee over its own Russia probe, as the panel chairman, Rep. Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), has sought to derail the investigation in a bid to support the president.

Rep. Adam Schiff of California, the committee’s top Democrat, charged that the memo, researched and written by Nunes’ staff, “cherry picks” information to make its case.

Schiff said Thursday the purpose of the memo is to give Trump cause to fire Deputy U.S. Attorney General Rod Rosenstein, who oversees Mueller’s investigation, and replace him with someone who will rein in or fire the special counsel.

Some Senate Republicans also have urged caution. South Dakota’s Sen. John Thune, the No. 3 Republican in his chamber, said Thursday that the Senate intelligence committee still hasn’t seen the memo and should be allowed to do so before its release.

“I think they need to pay careful attention to what our folks who protect us have to say about how this bears on our national security,” Thune said.

With AP