WASHINGTON — New York Republican Rep. Peter King says a secret memo shows “serious improper behavior at high levels” of the Justice Department’s investigation of President Trump’s campaign. The document is currently at the center of a partisan dispute.
“I don’t want to oversell it, but what you’re going to see is that it’s going to show serious — serious improper behavior at high levels as far as the FBI and the Justice Department,” King said during a conversation with Yahoo News at Trump’s Washington hotel Tuesday evening.
King, who is a member of the GOP-led House Intelligence Committee, filed a motion Monday to release the memo. The memo was compiled by the committee’s chairman, Republican Rep. Devin Nunes, and his staff. It reportedly details misconduct by the FBI and the Department of Justice in the investigation into alleged collusion between the Russian government and Trump’s campaign during the 2016 election. The committee approved King’s motion over the objections of Democratic members, who argued that the memo is partisan and aimed at protecting Trump, and in the face of strenuous opposition by the Justice Department, which warned that it would be “reckless” to release information that could compromise U.S. intelligence and law enforcement.
Following the intelligence committee’s vote, Trump has five days to approve the memo’s release. Sources told CNN that the president hoped to see the document made public shortly after his State of the Union speech Tuesday evening. The Republican-led committee blocked the release of a competing memo compiled by its Democratic members.
Amid the controversy over the memo, speculation has swirled over whether it focused on FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe. McCabe, who on Monday announced plans to retire, has been accused by Republicans and by Trump of being biased against the president, because his wife ran for office as a Democrat and received donations from allies of Trump’s election opponent, Hillary Clinton.
Yahoo News asked King if Nunes’s memo focused on McCabe.
“I can’t get into any names,” King said.
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