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-- President Donald Trump has demanded the “immediate declassification”
of sensitive materials about the Russia investigation, but the agencies
responsible are expected to propose redactions that would keep some
information secret, according to three people familiar with the matter.
The
Justice Department, FBI and Office of the Director of National
Intelligence are going through a methodical review and can’t offer a
timeline for finishing, said the people, who weren’t authorized to speak
publicly about the sensitive matter.
The
White House issued a statement on Monday listing material that Trump
wants declassified immediately, echoing demands of Republican lawmakers
who share his contention that the continuing investigation into Russian
interference in the 2016 election was tainted by anti-Trump bias well
before Robert Mueller was named special counsel to run it.
Among
Trump’s demands was the full public release of all text messages
concerning the Russia probe by Justice Department official Bruce Ohr and
by several former officials, including two who were fired -- former FBI
Director James Comey and his deputy, Andrew McCabe. One person
described the order to release text messages as unprecedented, and
another said additional talks will probably be held with the White House
over the matter.
The
Justice Department and FBI are expected to submit their documents and
proposed redactions to the Office of the Director of National
Intelligence, which will assemble all the material into a package and
hand it over to the White House, according to the people.
While
the agencies want to guard against revealing classified sources and
methods about the ongoing Russia investigation, doing so could put them
in direct conflict with Trump, who as president has the power to
override the agencies and declassify material on his own.
It’s
too early to say if any officials would resign in protest should Trump
do that, one person said. Trump could ask the agencies to go back and
scrub the redacted material further.
Critics,
including leading congressional Democrats, contend that Trump has
crossed a line by ordering release of the documents in order to
interfere with and undermine the Russia investigation in which he’s a
key figure.
“President
Trump, in a clear abuse of power, has decided to intervene in a pending
law enforcement investigation by ordering the selective release of
materials he believes are helpful to his defense team and thinks will
advance a false narrative,” Representative Adam Schiff, the top Democrat
on the House Intelligence Committee, said in a statement on Monday.
Trump took the rare step of ordering material released after a group of conservative House Republicans asked him to do so.
“When
the president issues such an order, it triggers a declassification
review process that is conducted by various agencies within the
intelligence community, in conjunction with the White House counsel, to
seek to ensure the safety of America’s national security interests,” a
Justice Department spokesman said in a statement. “The department and
the Federal Bureau of Investigation are already working with the
Director of National Intelligence to comply with the president’s order.”
Some
of what Trump requested was well known to the Justice Department and
FBI and was already under review for potential declassification.
They
have already been reviewing whether and how to release more of a
previously secret warrant application to eavesdrop on Carter Page, a
foreign policy adviser to Trump’s presidential campaign who was flagged
by intelligence agencies as a target of Russian interest. Page hasn’t
been accused of wrongdoing and has said that while he had conversations
with Russian officials, he wasn’t an agent of the Russian government.
The
agencies also have been reviewing whether and how to release reports of
interviews with Ohr on his role in the Russia inquiry.
But
another part of the White House statement caused confusion because it
asked for “all FBI reports of interviews prepared in connection with all
Carter Page FISA applications.
The
Justice Department is interpreting that request to mean information
about the use of a confidential informant during the early parts of the
investigation, one person said. The department had previously briefed
the “Gang of Eight,” Republican and Democratic congressional leaders and
heads of the Intelligence committees, on the informant.
Trump
and his supporters have repeatedly attacked the FBI and Justice
Department for relying partly on a dossier on Trump compiled by former
British spy Christopher Steele in order to get the warrant on Page. They
contend that Justice and FBI officials didn’t fully disclose that
Steele was paid in part by Trump’s rival in the presidential
campaign, Hillary Clinton.
Democrats have said information other than the Steele dossier was used to obtain the warrant on Page.
The
initial warrant request called Page “an agent of a foreign power” and
said “the FBI believes Page has been the subject of targeted recruitment
by the Russian government,” according to the document.
Liberteon