"I want to believe the path you threw out for consideration in Andy's office - that there's no way he gets elected - but I'm afraid we can't take the risk. It's like an insurance policy in the unlikely event you die before you're 40," reads the text message in question - used by many in Trump's camp to bolster claims that the Russia investigation is "rigged witch hunt."
Speaking with Fox News's Laura Ingraham, Nunes said that declassification will provide exculpatory evidence, including a dozen or so 302 witness interview forms from DOJ official Bruce Ohr which may shed light on his significant relationship with former MI6 spy Christopher Steele and "many other rotten apples."
"A lot of people think that the insurance policy was getting the FISA warrant on [former Trump campaign aide] Carter Page," Nunes told Ingraham, adding "We actually believe it was more explicit than that."
Watch:
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump had ordered the documents released by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) and the Justice Department "[a]t the request of a number of committees of Congress, and for reasons of transparency." -Fox NewsAdam Schiff (D-CA), ranking Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, called Trump's decision to release the documents "a clear abuse of power."
"[Trump] has decided to intervene in a pending law enforcement investigation by ordering the selective release of materials he believes are helpful to his defense team and thinks will advance a false narrative," Schiff said. "With respect to some of these materials, I have been previously informed by the FBI and Justice Department that they would consider their release a red line that must not be crossed as they may compromise sources and methods.
"This is evidently of no consequence to a President who cares about nothing about the country and everything about his narrow self-interest," Schiff added.
Trump also ordered the DOJ to release text messages from several key players in the Trump-Russia investigation, "without redaction," of former FBI Director James Comey, his deputy Andrew McCabe, now-fired special agent Peter Strzok, former FBI attorney Lisa Page and twice-demoted DOJ official Bruce Ohr.
A spokesman from the Justice Department told Fox News that the DOJ and FBI "are already working with the Director of National Intelligence to comply with the President's order," while ODNI spokesperson Kellie Wade told the network: "As requested by the White House, the ODNI is working expeditiously with our interagency partners to conduct a declassification review of the documents the President has identified for declassification."
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