WASHJNGTON – U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday approved the release ofa classified Republican memo that alleges bias against him at the FBI andJustice Department, in an extraordinary showdown with law enforcementagencies over the probe into alleged Russian interference in the 2016election.
Ignoring the urgings of the FBI earlier this week, Trump declassified thefour-page memo and sent it to Congress, where Republicans on the House ofRepresentatives Intelligence Committee immediately released it to thepublic.
The Republican president told reporters that the contents of the documenttell a disgraceful story of bias against him and that “a lot of peopleshould be ashamed.”
The document has become a flashpoint in a battle between Republicans andDemocrats over Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s criminal probe intopossible collusion between Trump’s campaign and Russia to sway the 2016presidential election. Mueller is also believed to be investigating anyattempts to impede his probe.
Trump has repeatedly complained about Mueller’s investigation, which hascast a shadow over his first year in office, calling it a witch hunt anddenying any collusion or obstruction of justice. Moscow has denied anyelection meddling.
The memo, criticized by the FBI as incomplete and slammed by Democrats asan attempt to undermine Mueller’s probe, purports to show that theinvestigation of ties between the Trump campaign and Russia was driven bypolitical bias. – Agencies