Since word first broke more than a year ago that federal investigators had launched a probe to discover whether Donald Trump’s presidential campaign gained help from the Russians, die-hard Trump allies have joined the president in trying to tarnish the reputations and professionalism of FBI leadership. Trump, especially, has zealously attacked the FBI and Justice Department over the probe.
Little surprise there: Trump revels in trying to ruin any opponent or critic. Given the suspicions raised by his firing of then FBI director James Comey, the Justice Departmentap appointment of a special counsel into Trump’s campaign dealings and the related headaches of congressional investigations, our unlikely president has many reasons indeed for casting aspersions on his investigators.
Still, claims by Republicans that the Federal Bureau of Investigation acted improperly from the outset of the investigation are worrisome and deserve review. If Americans are to have faith in the agency’s work, we ought to believe its handling of the Russia investigation is on the level.
Enter the heated dispute between Democrats and Republicans about a House Intelligence Committee memo said to throw dirt at the FBI. We are troubled by aspects of Republican demands that Trump declassify and release the memo to the public — as well as the presidentap decision Thursday to clear the way for its release — and urge great caution.
The memo is said to argue that FBI agents weren’t honest with a Federal Intelligence Surveillance Court in gaining a warrant to spy on a Trump campaign official. People who have read the memo say it alleges that investigators weren’t forthcoming with the judge that some of the information they used to justify a warrant — a controversial dossier prepared by former British spy Christopher Steele — was financed by Democrats. Certainly such allegations should be made public along with the evidence supporting them.
It would be easy enough to believe that Democrats are just playing politics in the dispute. But then there is the fact that FBI Director Christopher Wray argues that releasing the memo would endanger national security, because it will reveal spying techniques and confidential sources. Wray also says the , giving credibility to Democrats who say the memo’s drafters cherry-picked information meant to cast the FBI as biased. They also assert that Republican drafters altered the memo they sent to the president after they voted to seek its release.
FBI agents have issued a statement supporting Wray in voicing his concerns.
Further, Republican Sen. John Thune has joined Democrats in arguing against the rush to release. Shortly before Trump said he wouldn’t block release on Thursday, the third highest-ranking member of the Senate said his chamber’s intelligence committee and its Republican chairman should have a chance to weigh in.
We think thatap only reasonable, and don’t see the benefit of rushing to publication on this one given such serious high-level concerns.
Meanwhile, Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee have authored a competing memo meant to provide better context for the GOP version. We agree with the party — and Thune — that releasing their memo alongside the GOP’s is only responsible.
There are always important questions in releasing classified information. Our default position sides with transparency, but not without due consideration of national security concerns.
This fight looks awfully political to us, a fact that, to use the FBI’s language, gives us grave concerns about the memo’s reliability. If Americans are to believe they are getting the full story on how the Russia investigation got underway, it would help if the criticism weren’t so rooted in partisanship.
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