Schiff: Nunes made 'material changes' to memo he sent to White House


Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, announced Wednesday night that committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) made "material changes" to the controversial FBI-related memo he sent to the White House, with the "changes not approved by the committee."
On Monday, Republicans on the committee voted to make public a classified memo crafted by GOP staffers that reportedly accuses FBI and Justice Department officials of abusing surveillance laws to target Carter Page, one of President Trump's campaign advisers. The FBI said it has "grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact" the accuracy of the memo, and Democrats say the memo is misleading and could compromise intelligence sources.
In a letter to Nunes, Schiff said Democrats on the committee compared the memo that was made available to House members on Jan. 18 with the memo sent to the White House, and they are not the same document. "After reviewing both versions, it is clear that the majority made material changes to the version it sent to the White House, which committee members were never apprised of, never had the opportunity to review, and never approved," Schiff wrote.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

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.
It is "deeply troubling" that the White House has been "reviewing a document since Monday that the committee never approved for public release," he added, and the changes made by Nunes "do not correct the profound distortions and inaccuracies in your document," but they are "nonetheless substantive." Now, Schiff said, it's "imperative that the committee majority immediately withdraw the document that it sent to the White House." Catherine Garcia
Update 12:50 a.m. ET: A spokemsan for the Intelligence Committee's GOP majority pushed back on Schiff's letter, calling Monday's vote "absolutely procedurally sound" and dismissing the changes as "minor edits ... including grammatical fixes and two edits requested by the FBI" and committee Democrats.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
Citizenship: Trump order blocked again
Feature After the Supreme Court restricted nationwide injunctions, a federal judge turned to a class action suit to block Trump's order to end birthright citizenship
-
Loyalty tests: The purge at the FBI
Feature Kash Patel is conducting polygraph tests on FBI agents to weed out anyone speaking badly about him
-
The all-seeing tech giant
Feature Palantir's data-mining tools are used by spies and the military. Are they now being turned on Americans?
-
Japan's prime minister feels pressure after election losses
Speed Read Shigeru Ishiba has vowed to remain in office
-
President diagnosed with 'chronic venous insufficiency'
Speed Read The vein disorder has given Trump swollen ankles and visible bruising on his hands
-
'Bawdy' Trump letter supercharges Epstein scandal
Speed Read The Wall Street Journal published details of Trump's alleged birthday letter to Epstein
-
Fed chair Powell in Trump's firing line
Speed Read The president considers removing Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell
-
Trump trashes supporters over Epstein files
speed read The president lashed out on social media following criticism of his administration's Jeffrey Epstein investigation
-
Judge nixes wiping medical debt from credit checks
Speed Read Medical debt can now be included in credit reports
-
Grijalva wins Democratic special primary for Arizona
Speed Read She will go up against Republican nominee Daniel Butierez to fill the US House seat her father held until his death earlier this year
-
US inflation jumps as Trump tariffs 'bite'
Speed Read Consumer prices are climbing and the inflation rate rose to its highest level in four months