FBI Has 'Grave Concerns' About Classified GOP Memo

The Washington Post calls it a "rare and remarkable standoff," and CNN says it's a "striking signal." Two days after House Republicans voted to release a memo regarding FBI surveillance and one day after President Trump was overheard saying he would release it, the FBI publicly came out opposing that plan. "We have grave concerns about the material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo’s accuracy," the FBI said in a statement Wednesday. The memo prepared by staffers for Rep. Devin Nunes, the Republican chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, concerns the role of the so-called Steele dossier in federal surveillance of former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

Last week, the Justice Department warned the House Intelligence Committee that releasing it would be "extraordinarily reckless." The intelligence community worries making the classified document public would inform foreign targets how to avoid surveillance. FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein met with Chief of Staff John Kelly on Monday in an attempt to prevent the memo from being released. And Democrats say the memo picks and chooses information to cast doubt on Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian election interference and possible collusion by the Trump campaign. Regardless, Kelly told Fox News Radio on Wednesday that the memo will be released "pretty quick."