February 25, 2018

Castro Statement on Democratic Memo Release

Washington, D.C.—Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, today released the following statement:
 
"As lawmakers, we owe the American public the chance to make their own independent judgements. That's why I initially opposed the release of any House Intelligence Committee memos. But as Chairman Nunes released his own political document, wrought with inaccuracies that sought to discredit the DOJ and set a pretext for the President to dismiss any potential findings in the Russia investigation, Democrats needed to correct the record.

"So the memo we released today does just that. It clarifies that the counterintelligence investigation began with George Papadapolous; clears up any confusion about the FBI's interest in Carter Page; demonstrates FBI and DOJ's full transparency in the FISA court; and corrects numerous unfounded attacks against FBI and DOJ professionals. The Democrats have always worked with the FBI to mitigate any national security risks, and are now seeking to restore credibility to our key national security agencies by releasing today's memo.

"It is critical we return to the Russia investigation, protect Special Counsel Mueller, and get to the bottom of Trump campaign collusion with Russia."
 
The memo can be found here.
 
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