House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy Tuesday defended a House panel's vote to make public a memo reportedly alleging FBI and Justice Department abuses in obtaining a secret surveillance order on a Trump campaign aide — denying politics played any part in the decision.
In remarks aired on CNN Newsroom, the Wisconsin Republican said its not a foregone conclusion that President Donald Trump, after reviewing the memo, will declassify sensitive data and officially make it public.
"We're separate but co-equal branches," he said. "We do our work, the executive branch will look at it now. We went beyond and reached out to the executive branch early, walked through what was in it, to see if there was anything they wanted redacted, anything they disagreed with. From then [the House Intelligence Committee] voted to move it forward."
He denied politics were involved in passage, however, after the top Democrat on the panel, Rep. Adam Schiff of California, fumed the majority memo was released but a minority report was not.
McCarthy blasted the top Democrat on the intel panel , saying he couldn't go "tit for tat with Adam Schiff every day, saying things that aren't even there."
"I think what the [House Intelligence Committee] has responsibility to do, if they have knowledge, transparency to move it out," he said of the memo release. "I think it is an open and honest process. The Democrats had nothing before. They were voting to not let anybody see anything. And I think that was wrong. That's why the Republicans are the ones who made the motion so members now could read what the Democrats have . . . Seems to me they're treating them very openly and honest…"
He also said panel Democrats' minority report will also be voted on "as soon as possible."
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