Trump attacks Democrat on intel committee amid rival memo push






Washington - US President Donald Trump lashed out at a senior Democrat on the House intelligence committee on Monday for saying a memo criticizing the FBI for its conduct in a probe into Russian election meddling did not vindicate Trump.



 
In a Twitter post, Trump said early Monday that Congressman Adam Schiff was "one of the biggest liars and leakers in Washington" and "must be stopped," without elaborating.
The attack came just hours before Schiff was expected to call for a vote from the intelligence committee on whether to release a second memo prepared by Democrats as a rebuttal to the Republican-written one declassified on Friday.
Trump said over the weekend that the Republican memo "totally vindicates" him in the federal investigation into election meddling and allegations of collusion between Russia and Trump's campaign.
The original memo, commissioned by House intelligence committee chief Devin Nunes, accuses senior officials at the FBI and the Department of Justice of using information from a partisan source to obtain a warrant to spy on Carter Page, a former foreign policy advisor to the campaign.
The FBI warned against its release, claiming "material omissions of fact." Democrats denounced the declassification as an attempt to undermine the Russia investigation.
The move also added fuel to speculation that Trump is seeking to clean house in the upper echelons of the FBI and the Justice Department.
Deputy White House Press Secretary Raj Shah told reporters on Monday that "there's no consideration about any personnel moves at the [Department of Justice]," and added that Trump would consider the release of the Democrats' rebuttal "just as we did the Nunes memo."
Trump's tweet on Monday also maligned former FBI chief James Comey, vice chairman of the Senate intelligence committee Mark Warner, former CIA head John Brennan and retired intelligence director James Clapper, referring to them as "liars and leakers."
"Instead of tweeting false smears, the American people would appreciate it if you turned off the TV and helped solve the funding crisis, protected Dreamers or ... really anything else," Schiff tweeted in response to the insult.

Notepad


Monday, February 5th 2018
By Friederike Heine,
           


New comment:
Twitter

News | Politics | Features | Arts | Entertainment | Society | Sport



At a glance