Hogan Gidley: White House decision not to release Dems’ memo for safety, not politics

White House deputy press secretary Hogan Gidley said Monday the Democratic memo needs major changes before President Trump can consider releasing it.

“The president released the first memo. He declassified it because it did not reveal sources and methods. This report form the Democrats does not keep American lives safe. What it does is reveal serious national security information that could, quite frankly, put our lives as risk, and the president is not going to do that,” Mr. Gidley said on Fox News.

The memos, the first released by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, concerns alleged abuses in the FISA system concerning a dossier on Mr. Trump drafted during the campaign. The unverified dossier was funded by the Democratic National Committee and Republicans argue that it was used to justify surveillance warrants on members of Mr. Trump’s campaign staff. Democrats say this is a mischaracterization of the information and wrote their own memo.

Mr. Trump said over the weekend that he could not released the Democratic memo because it contained sources and methods that would put Americans’ safety at risk.

Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking member on the committee, is reportedly meeting with the FBI to discuss redactions or changes to the memo to send to the president again so that it can be released. The California Democrat said the decision not to release the memo is political and not for security purposes.