White House chief of staff John Kelly told President Trump on Wednesday that he believed a classified memo written by House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes was being overhyped and did not have the damning details Republicans claim to know about the FBI and Justice Department, according to a report published late Thursday.
Kelly hand-delivered the memo to Trump in the Oval Office Wednesday afternoon. They both talked about it then Kelly left Trump to read the full document by himself.
Hours later, Kelly returned to speak with his boss and told him he did not think releasing the redacted document would endanger national security, but said the document did not make as compelling of a case against federal investigators who allegedly used false information from the Fusion GPS dossier to obtain a search warrant, according to the Washington Post.
The warrant allowed FBI and DOJ officials to spy on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
Trump called for the release of the memo prior to even reading it. White House officials have said the president thinks the memo’s release will prove that a group of top government officials have been out to get him.
Kelly has spoken this week with multiple senior-level FBI officials, including Director Christopher Wray, who have urged him against sharing information about how the U.S. government collects information on people.
