(FILES) In this file photo taken on January 30, 2018 shows Rep. Devin Nunes (R-CA), Chairman of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, walking away from a meeting with House GOP members, on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The FBI warned January 31, 2018 it has “grave concerns” over the accuracy of a secret Congressional memo that could depict the agency as deeply politicized, as President Donald Trump’s top aide signalled the White House would allow the document’s release.Based on highly classified information, the four-page memo — written by Republican lawmaker Devin Nunes, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee — suggests that the Justice Department and the FBI abused their power in running surveillance on a member of President Donald Trump’s election campaign in 2016.
/ AFP PHOTO / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / MARK WILSON
US President Donald Trump on Friday attacked leaders of his own Justice Department and the FBI as politically biased in favor of Democrats.
“The top Leadership and Investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans,” Trump tweeted in the latest example of open conflict with the two bodies.
The message came as Trump was expected to approve the release of a confidential Republican-drafted memo alleging abuse of authority in the FBI’s probe of his election campaign and its ties to Russia.
Democrats and critics in the intelligence community say the release is a stunt, using very selective information that cannot be countered publicly without revealing more secrets about government counterintelligence operations.
They say the ultimate goal of the memo, with Trump’s support, is to undermine special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into possible collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, which has edged closer to the president himself, and possible obstruction of justice.
