Consistent with this review and these standards, the President has determined that declassification of the Memorandum is Appropriate. The White House review process also included input from the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and the Department of Justice. Those standards permit declassification when the public interest in disclosure outweighs any need to protect the information. Accordingly, he has directed lawyers and national security staff to assess the declassification request, consistent with established standards governing the handling of classified information, including those under Section 3.1(d) of Executive Order 13526. The President understands that the protection of our national security represents his highest obligation. It remains unclear whether House Republicans or the White House will eventually let the Democratic rebuttal memo be released. While House rules allow a rarely used procedure to make classified information public without executive branch approval, the White House does not acknowledge that Congress has legitimate authority to do so. Accordingly, the Committee's request to release the Memorandum is interpreted as a request for declassification pursuant to the President's authority. 1 However, public release of classified information by unilateral action of the Legislative Branch is extremely rare and raises significant separation of powers concerns. The Executive Branch, across Administrations of both parties, has worked to accommodate congressional requests to declassify specific materials in the public interest. The Committee has now determined that the release of the Memorandum would be appropriate. The Executive Branch does so on the assumption that the Committee will responsibly protect such classified information, consistent with the laws of the United States. In order to facilitate appropriate congressional oversight, the Executive Branch may entrust classified information to the appropriate committees of Congress, as it has done in connection with the Committee’s oversight activities here. As the Supreme Court has recognized, it is the President’s responsibility to classify, declassify, and control access to information bearing on our intelligence sources and methods and national defense. The Constitution vests the President with the authority to protect national security secrets from disclosure. As provided by clause 11(g) of Rule X of the House of Representatives, the Committee has forwarded this Memorandum to the President based on its determination that the release of the Memorandum would serve the public interest. On January 29, 2018, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (hereinafter “the Committee”) voted to disclose publicly a memorandum containing classified information provided to the Committee in connection with its oversight activities (the “Memorandum,” which is attached to this letter). Nunes led Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee in a party-line vote rejecting the simultaneous release of the Democrats’ 10-page rebuttal memo, which they have portrayed as explaining inaccuracies and misleading omissions in this one.Ĭhairman, House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence Nunes, Republican of California, is the chief architect of this memo, though it was drafted by a Republican staff member, Kashyap Patel.
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