January 30, 2018

Castro Statement on House Intelligence Committee’s Vote to Release Classified Nunes Memo

Washington, D.C. – Today, Congressman Joaquin Castro (TX-20), a member of the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, issued the following statement on the Committee’s vote this evening to release only the Majority memo:

“It’s clear that the Intelligence Committee’s vote tonight to only declassify the Republican memo, and not the Democratic one, is yet another attempt to protect Trump and discredit Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of Putin’s 2016 presidential election hack. There’s nothing I’ve seen in the behavior of the FBI or anyone in the intelligence agencies that compromises the integrity of this investigation, and we must maintain our focus on a fair and thorough investigation.

“But instead, tonight’s vote represents a disturbing politicization of the intelligence process. While I support transparency, the public cannot adequately draw their own conclusions without viewing the underlying material which could compromise sources and methods. We all know—Republican and Democrat alike—that this vote distracts from the investigation, muddies lawmakers’ ability to objectively follow the facts, and embodies a disturbing erosion of how a congressional intelligence committee should operate when investigating an attack by a foreign entity on our democracy.”

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