Top Justice Department officials urged White House not to make secret memo public

Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray spent their Monday appealing to White House Chief of Staff John Kelly, warning him of the danger in making a secret memo compiled by Republicans public, several people briefed on the meeting told The Washington Post.

The memo claims to show abuses by top FBI officials, and Rosenstein said that not only could the four-page document jeopardize classified information, but the Department of Justice is not convinced that it's even entirely accurate. Kelly told Rosenstein President Trump is leaning toward releasing the memo, but it will go through a review by the National Security Council and White House Counsel's Office, a senior administration official told the Post.

The meeting took place shortly before Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee voted to make the memo public, but voted against releasing a document written by Democrats and denied a request by Wray to talk to the committee about the intelligence behind the memo.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up