Rep. Matt Gaetz said Friday that a classified Democratic memo on the Russia election-meddling probe will likely be released later in the day.
“I expect the president to release the Democratic memo today,” Mr. Gaetz, Florida Republican, said on Fox News.
He added that he expects redactions in the Democratic memo because there were more sources and methods mentioned than in the Republican draft.
The dueling memos concern possible abuses in the FISA court system in obtaining surveillance warrants for former Trump campaign aides. The Republican memo argued that the dossier funded by the Democratic National Committee was used to justify the warrants, while Democrats say this is a mischaracterization of the facts and that their memo will offer clarification.
“There are sources and methods that have been chalked in these pages drafted by Adam Schiff and we need those redacted just like sensitive information would’ve been redacted from the Republican memo so that we don’t put Americans at risk downrange,” Mr. Gaetz said.
He also said that it’s not enough for Congress to just gather facts on what happened in the FISA system, but there needs to be action in the form of a special counsel.
“My fear is that this could become the next Benghazi,” he said, adding that Congress never took any action on the missteps that led to the 2012 attack on the U.S. embassy in Libya.
“We need [Attorney General] Jeff Sessions to step up and really put people in charge who can investigate these abuses,” he said.
The deadline for the White House to release the memo is Saturday.
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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