House lawmakers have been provided the right to examine a two-page manuscript that the FBI used to justify its investigation into alleged Russia interference with the 2016 election.
Devin Nunes, the Committee Chair requested the right to obtain the document. Nunes complained that the previous “heavily” redacted forms were not helpful to the committee.
“During the meeting, we were finally given access to a version of the [Electronic Communication] that contained the information necessary to advance the Committee’s ongoing investigation of the Department of Justice and FBI,” stated Nunes in his statement.
“Although the subpoenas issued by this Committee in August 2017 remain in effect, I’d like to thank Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein for his cooperation today,” he further added.
As per an official from the Justice Department, some of the redactions in the paper are “narrowly tailored to protect the name of a foreign country and the name of a foreign agent.” The official further said that specifics have been changed with identifiers such as “foreign government” and “foreign official”.
“These words must remain redacted after determining that revealing the words could harm the national security of the American people by undermining the trust we have with this foreign nation,” said the official while adding that they seem “only a limited number of times, and do not obstruct the underlying meaning of the document.”
Some conservatives are examining evidence that the DOJ’s decision making around the election in 2016 was riddled with prejudices and accusations that the Republicans are trying to make an issue around Mueller.
“We’re not going to just hold in contempt. We will have a plan to hold in contempt and impeach,” said Nunes on Tuesday of the two Trump-appointed officials on Fox News.
In December, The New York Times stated that the federal investigation was instigated when the FBI got a tip from George Papadopoulos, the campaign adviser for President Donald Trump. George Papadopoulos had declared to an Australian ambassador that he had some information on Hillary Clinton.
Nunes had some doubt on this narrative.
“We haven’t been able to see the EC to confirm that,” stated Nunes while referring to the document.
House Judiciary Committee member Representative Jim Jordan (Republican – Ohio), said that if his board does not get the documents they have asked for, then all odds are possible.
“Our patience has run out because the American people’s patience have run out so I think if they don’t change things in a dramatic fashion in a short period of time — I’m talking days, not weeks or months — then I think everything is on the table,” said Jordan on Wednesday.
The House Intelligence Committee Representative Adam Schiff (Democrats – California), defended Rosenstein and Wray after Nunes openly voiced his accusation threat.
“Both Rosenstein and Wray have already made available to the Intelligence Committee scores of highly sensitive documents related to ongoing investigations — including Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) applications — the details of which the majority proceeded to disclose in a deliberately misleading manner which the department rightly called ‘extraordinarily reckless,’” said Schiff in his statement.
“The chairman’s rhetoric is a shocking and irresponsible escalation of the GOP’s attacks on the FBI and DOJ,” he further added.