![The House has voted in favor of releasing the classified memo. - [Office of the Speaker / Wikimedia Commons]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2018/1/30/660x290/b_502x220x82/the-house-has-voted-in-favor-of-releasing-the-classified-memo-wikimedia-commonsoffice-of-the-speaker_1803809.jpg "The House has voted in favor of releasing the classified memo. - [Office of the Speaker / Wikimedia Commons]")
The House Intelligence Committee voted to release a classified memo that claims to reveal government surveillance abuses. The committee voted along party lines to release the memo. The decision now rests on President Trump to make any objections before the memo can be released. Most of the information in this article comes from reports by the New York Times and NBC News.
Will Trump release classified intel to the public?
Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff announced the vote and called it a sad day in the committee's history. The Department of Justice previously called on House Intel Chairman Devin Nunes not to release the memo saying it could be a threat to national security.
Republican lawmakers have described the memo as "troubling" and "shocking."
Committee Republicans JUST voted to declassify their spin "memo" and prohibit release of the Democratic response in what they claimed was “the interests of full transparency.” It was transparent alright – transparently cynical and destructive.
— Adam Schiff (@RepAdamSchiff) January 30, 2018
Republican members say the memo details how the FBI eavesdrops on suspects during "national security" investigations. Democrats allege the memo is an attack on the Mueller probe. Schiff has said that he doesn't know whether releasing the memo would endanger national security.
White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders said Trump has received the memo but won't decide whether to make it public until after the State of the Union address.
A White House official told NBC News that it's unclear if the Department of Justice will rule on blacking out parts of the memo.
Did FBI rely on Trump Dossier?
The House Intel vote came the same day that the FBI's No. 2, Andrew McCabe stepped down from his position as deputy director. Rep. Trey Gowdy helped put together the four-page memo and has said he wants to make it public.
Gowdy has also said that the memo addresses how much the FBI relied on the "Trump Dossier."
.@JudicialWatch President Tom Fitton: "I think the president should stand fast on behalf of the rule of law here and transparency and just get the memo out as quickly as possible." https://t.co/GNjiJzy3DW pic.twitter.com/jTNmbxVyFz
— Fox News (@FoxNews) January 30, 2018
The memo was written based in part on a FISA surveillance application for Carter Page, who was a key foreign policy adviser to the Trump campaign.
According to the New York Times, the memo highlights Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein in approving the warrant application. FISA warrants require multiple layers of authentication and require investigators to prove that the suspect is acting as an agent of a foreign entity.
FBI Director Christopher Wray has viewed the document but has not commented on its findings. Most of the intelligence findings backing the memo are extremely classified and only eight House lawmakers can view it. Members of Congress are working on a deal to make some of the info related to the memo public but currently, no deal has been made.
The House Intel Committee is now focused on continuing investigations into the Department of Justice and the FBI's conduct. Schiff claims that the Republicans are refusing to meet with the FBI to hear concerns they have about releasing the memo.
