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Political points should not come at security cost

Democrats leaped quickly at President Donald Trump’s decision not to permit release of their document regarding use by the FBI and Department of Justice of the controversial Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. The president “doesn’t want the public to see the underlying facts,” insisted Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif.

To which the White House replied that yes, Trump does want to keep some information in the document secret — because release could compromise national security.

In question is a report by Democrats on the House of Representatives intelligence committee. It is intended to counter allegations by the panel’s Republicans, that the FBI and DOJ misused the FISA procedure.

After reviewing the Democrats’ memo, Trump refused to allow its release. But White House aides said they are confident if the Democrat lawmakers redact some sections of the document, it can be released without revealing intelligence secrets.

Surely that can be accomplished. If not, the White House should make clear, without revealing critical secrets, precisely what type of classified information Democrats included in their memo — taking a risk in doing so of jeopardizing national security in order to score political points.

editorial@tribtoday.com

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