President Trump on Monday via his Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders ordered the declassification of certain documents pertaining to the Russia investigation.
The statement posted to The White House’s website reads in part, “At the request of a number of committees of Congress,” and “for reasons of transparency,” President Trump requests the Department of Justice, Office of the Director of National Intelligence, and the FBI, to declassify, “all FBI reports of interviews with,” Department of Justice longtime attorney Bruce Ohr, “prepared in connection with the Russia investigation.”
It continues stating that the President also wants declassified, “pages 10-12 and 17-34 of the June 2017 application,” of the FISA application that was originally obtained in October 2016 on former aid to the Trump Campaign Carter Page, who left the campaign in September 2016. Along with the pages of the FISA warrant app, the President also orders “all FBI reports of interviews prepared in connection with all Carter Page FISA application.” A redacted version of the warrant application was released as the News Blender reported in July.
The statement ends by also requesting all texts messages that were sent between former FBI director James Comey, former FBI deputy director, Andrew McCabe, former counterintelligence FBI agent Peter Strzok, former DOJ/FBI attorney Lisa Page, and current DOJ lawyer Bruce Ohr.
The DOJ released a statement via Bloomberg, “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. The Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation are already working with the Director of National Intelligence to comply with the president’s order,” a DOJ spokesmen said.
Republican’s in Congress have for months demanded the public release of several documents they say will prove political bias at the top of the DOJ/FBI regarding President Trump and the Russian investigation into whether or not members of Trump’s campaign colluded with the intent to conspire against the U.S. with Russia during the 2016 presidential campaign.
Some Republican’s weighed in on President Trump’s statement via Twitter
Rep Mark Meadows (R-NC) Chairman of the Freedom Caucus issued two tweets
Transparency wins. This is absolutely the right call from @POTUS.
— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) September 17, 2018
It's time to get the full truth on the table so the American people can decide for themselves on what happened at the highest levels of their FBI and Justice Department. https://t.co/1IJTHvWaF5
Transparency is a good thing. If we're protecting sources and methods in these documents, Americans deserve to know the full truth.
— Mark Meadows (@RepMarkMeadows) September 18, 2018
Bottom line: If people are trying to hide this information from you, it says far more about them than it does the President or anyone else.
Rep Jim Jordan (R-OH)
We applaud the President’s decision to declassify portions of the Page FISA application and communications from the key people at the FBI and DOJ who ran the Russia investigation: Comey, McCabe, Strzok, Page, and Ohr.
— Rep. Jim Jordan (@Jim_Jordan) September 17, 2018
Transparency is a good thing.
Rep Adam Shiff (D-CA)
President Trump has intervened again in a pending investigation by ordering the selective disclosure of classified materials he believes to be helpful to his defense. The DOJ and FBI have previously informed me that release of some of this information would cross a “red line.”
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) September 18, 2018
For What it’s Worth this move comes just one day after Rep Devin Nunes (R-CA) appeared on Fox News show “Sunday Morning Futures,” telling host Maria Bartiromo that he intends to release interviews his committee conducted regarding the Russian investigation. The video is 12:45 seconds long, the discussion regarding the declassification of documents comes at the 4:08 second mark.
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