Rep. Jerrold Nadler said Friday that he’s requested an emergency meeting of the House Judiciary Committee with FBI Director Christopher Wray regarding the Republican memo on possible abuses of power in the justice system.
Mr. Nadler, New York Democrat, said he sent a letter to the committee’s chairman, Rep. Bob Goodlatte, on Thursday requesting the meeting, but he has not received a response yet. Mr. Nadler, the ranking member on the committee, said he doubts Mr. Goodlatte will allow the meeting since he has “stonewalled” Democrats on the committee regarding this memo.
“What this is is obviously part of a very direct campaign to discredit and to distract attention …[from] the investigation of the Russian interference into our election,” he said.
Mr. Nadler added that the contents of the memo, and what it reveals about the source documents, has been “overhyped” by Republicans. When asked if he thought that the memo compromised national security, however, he said he couldn’t answer.
“I’m not qualified to judge in terms of classification, but the FBI judges that the memo coming out endangers national security in terms of classification,” he said.
The memo was written by Rep. Devin Nunes who chairs the House Intelligence Committee. The committee voted to release the document on Monday, but President Trump has the final word on whether it will be released. He has until Monday to make a decision, but his staff has indicated he is in favor of releasing it.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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