Rep. David Cicilline said the source documents for the Republican memo should not be released, but argued the Democratic memo will more clearly lay out what was involved in obtaining the surveillance warrants for Trump campaign aides.
“I think if they agree to release the Democratic memorandum that goes through this point by point, this will be very, very clear,” Mr. Cicilline, Rhode Island Democrat, said on MSNBC.
He said that even a heavily redacted version of the source documents could compromise national intelligence and should remain classified. He did say, however, that the Democratic memo is a more accurate account of what those documents actually say.
Mr. Cicilline was reacting to the memo, written by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, that points to abuses in the surveillance system. The memo says an unverified dossier was used as justification for obtaining high-level surveillance on Trump campaign aides, and that without the dossier — funded by the Democratic National Committee and the Hillary Clinton campaign — the warrants under the powers of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act would not have been granted.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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