House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff pressed the intelligence community to let him know if Attorney General William Barr declassifies any documents pertaining to the Russia investigation over their objections.
Last week, President Trump delegated Barr “full and complete authority to declassify information” related to the origins of the federal investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. The White House also instructed several agencies to cooperate with Barr’s inquiry, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Defense Department, the State Department, and the Office of the Director of National Intelligence.
In a letter Friday to Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, Schiff wrote that Trump’s memo “perniciously” seeks the intelligence community’s help to “politicize the [intelligence community] and law enforcement, to delegitimize the well-founded investigation into the President, and to attack the President’s political enemies.”
Schiff demanded Coats keep him apprised of the intelligence community’s activities, including “any declassification that has been or will be made over [intelligence community] objection,” and set a deadline of June 6 to hear back.
Schiff’s letter comes a week after Senate Intelligence Vice Chairman Mark Warner, D-Va., sent similar correspondence to the leaders of the intelligence community asking for feedback on the impacts of Trump’s declassification order.
Coats has already spoken out about Trump’s order. In a statement, he offered some reassurance about the limited scope of what can be made available to the public due to national security concerns.
“Much like we have with other investigations and reviews, the Intelligence Community will provide the Department of Justice all of the appropriate information for its review of intelligence activities related to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election,” Coats said Friday. “As part of that process, I am confident that the Attorney General will work with the [intelligence community] in accordance with the long-established standards to protect highly-classified information that, if publicly released, would put our national security at risk.”
Over the weekend, Schiff predicted Coats and CIA Director Gina Haspel will resist Trump’s move to declassify intelligence related to the Russia investigation.
Should pressure from Trump become too great, Schiff suggested this pair of intelligence leaders follow the example of former Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and resign. “If it gets to a point they are asked to do things that are unlawful or jeopardize the men and women that work within the [intelligence community], they should speak out,” the California Democrat told the New York Times, “and, if necessary, follow the example of Secretary Mattis.”
Mattis resigned late last year in protest of Trump’s plan to pull U.S. troops out of Syria and Afghanistan.
