The White House on Tuesday defended its decision to only invite Republican lawmakers to view a series of documents related to the Russia investigation, and said no Democrats were invited because they “never asked” to see the materials.
“To my knowledge, Democrats have not requested that information so I would refer you back to them on why they consider themselves randomly invited to see something they’ve never asked to,” White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said.
Instead, two House Republican chairmen will meet with top Justice Department and intelligence officials on Thursday to review classified documents that were used to launch the federal investigation into President Trump’s 2016 campaign, and may have led to the FBI’s use of one or more informants during the presidential election.
Sanders said House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes and House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy had been invited to join representatives from the FBI and director of national intelligence to review the documents. Chief of staff John Kelly, who helped organize the meeting, will not be present, Sanders said.
The meeting on Thursday came together after Trump and Kelly met with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Chris Wray on Monday about the Justice Department’s refusal to release the requested documents to congressional investigators. Trump ordered Kelly during the meeting to set up a time for the documents to be viewed, despite concerns about the intelligence being used for political purposes.
Sanders pushed back on criticism about the forthcoming meeting, arguing that the White House simply helped secure the opportunity for GOP lawmakers.
“I hardly call it brokering a deal to help set up and coordinate a meeting to help Congress receive information that they’ve requested,” she said.
