Democrats defend FBI in memo on Russia probe

WASHINGTON—The House Intelligence Committee on Saturday released a redacted version of the Democratic memo intended to undercut Republican concerns about surveillance use and the Russia investigation. The 10-page memo comes out about two weeks after the panel voted unanimously to release it. Wrangling with the White House and the Justice Department about information too sensitive to make public delayed its release. The GOP memo, published Feb. 2, insinuated the FBI improperly authorized surveillance on Trump campaign officials based on a partisan dossier paid for by Democratic donors. The Democrats’ memo contends the FBI opened its investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election and possible ties to Trump campaign associates seven weeks before receiving the dossier. Democrats also say the FBI knew who funded the dossier before using it in the investigation. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., the ranking member of the Intelligence Committee, said in a statement the FBI and the Justice Department acted ethically and justified all surveillance authorizations. The White House discredited the validity of the Democrats’ memo but said in a statement it agreed to release the redacted version for the sake of transparency. “The Democrat memo response on government surveillance abuses is a total political and legal BUST,” President Donald Trump tweeted. “Just confirms all of the terrible things that were done.”