1 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:04,233 JUDY WOODRUFF: Now to the remarkable public fight that has erupted between the White House 2 00:00:04,233 --> 00:00:09,233 and the FBI over the release of a secret House Intelligence Committee memo that, as John 3 00:00:10,666 --> 00:00:13,066 Yang reports, is part of the Russia investigation. 4 00:00:13,066 --> 00:00:16,800 JOHN YANG: Judy, conservative Republicans have been urging President Trump to release 5 00:00:16,800 --> 00:00:21,800 the four-page classified document, believing it would discredit the FBI and the Russia 6 00:00:22,533 --> 00:00:24,666 investigation. 7 00:00:24,666 --> 00:00:27,833 Last night, as Mr. Trump left the House chamber after the State of the Union address, he seemed 8 00:00:27,833 --> 00:00:32,366 to assure Republican Representative Jeff Duncan of South Carolina that he would make it public. 9 00:00:32,366 --> 00:00:33,800 REP. 10 00:00:33,800 --> 00:00:35,600 JEFF DUNCAN (R), South Carolina: Let's release the memo. 11 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:40,600 DONALD TRUMP, President of the United States: Oh, yes. 12 00:00:45,466 --> 00:00:46,466 Don't worry, 100 percent. 13 00:00:46,466 --> 00:00:48,600 Can you imagine it? 14 00:00:48,600 --> 00:00:49,866 JOHN YANG: This morning, White House Press Secretary Sarah Sanders suggested on CNN that 15 00:00:49,866 --> 00:00:51,966 the release could take some time. 16 00:00:51,966 --> 00:00:53,400 SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, White House Press Secretary: We have said all along, from day 17 00:00:53,400 --> 00:00:55,266 one, that we want full transparency in this process. 18 00:00:55,266 --> 00:00:57,366 We haven't hidden that. 19 00:00:57,366 --> 00:01:01,233 But at the same time, we're still going to complete the legal and national security review 20 00:01:01,233 --> 00:01:04,966 that has to take place before putting something out publicly. 21 00:01:04,966 --> 00:01:07,000 And that's the place where we are right now. 22 00:01:07,000 --> 00:01:11,700 JOHN YANG: Later, the FBI issued a statement saying, "We have grave concerns about material 23 00:01:13,333 --> 00:01:17,233 omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy." 24 00:01:17,233 --> 00:01:21,000 To make sense of all of this, we are joined now by Devlin Barrett, who covers the Justice 25 00:01:21,000 --> 00:01:23,133 Department and FBI for The Washington Post. 26 00:01:23,133 --> 00:01:25,233 Devlin, thanks for joining us. 27 00:01:25,233 --> 00:01:30,000 As you reported, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray 28 00:01:30,000 --> 00:01:35,000 were at the White House on Monday to make their case in person to the chief of staff, 29 00:01:36,133 --> 00:01:38,233 John Kelly. 30 00:01:38,233 --> 00:01:41,933 What does it mean that they felt the need to go public this afternoon or today with 31 00:01:41,933 --> 00:01:43,966 that statement? 32 00:01:43,966 --> 00:01:45,166 DEVLIN BARRETT, The Washington Post: Well, frankly, in some ways, it means that they 33 00:01:45,166 --> 00:01:47,500 expect they have already lost this battle. 34 00:01:47,500 --> 00:01:52,500 As you saw in the president's statement the congressional floor last night, as you see 35 00:01:54,533 --> 00:01:56,533 in frankly the body language of many public officials in the administration and on the 36 00:01:56,533 --> 00:02:01,100 Hill, everyone involved in this really expects this memo will come out very soon. 37 00:02:01,100 --> 00:02:05,166 And I think as much as the statement is an attempt to say the reasons why it shouldn't 38 00:02:05,166 --> 00:02:09,766 come out, I think it's also frankly a statement to the public to say don't assume what you 39 00:02:09,766 --> 00:02:11,866 read here is the absolute truth. 40 00:02:11,866 --> 00:02:16,666 This may not be -- and obviously the FBI is saying it isn't -- this isn't an accurate 41 00:02:16,666 --> 00:02:19,200 accounting of what we do and how we do it. 42 00:02:19,200 --> 00:02:24,000 JOHN YANG: And because of the underlying documents or what this is based on, they can't -- or 43 00:02:25,933 --> 00:02:27,933 they are constrained on what they can say after it's released; is that right? 44 00:02:27,933 --> 00:02:29,966 DEVLIN BARRETT: Well, right. 45 00:02:29,966 --> 00:02:33,666 Part of the rub from the point of view of the intelligence agencies is that the House 46 00:02:33,666 --> 00:02:38,666 is going to release a set of -- a classified document that has a set of assertions in it. 47 00:02:40,700 --> 00:02:43,433 To rebut those assertions, presumably, you will need -- and I am told you would need 48 00:02:43,433 --> 00:02:48,433 - - another set of classified information which those agencies aren't allowed or really inclined 49 00:02:50,633 --> 00:02:53,233 to release because it's classified. 50 00:02:53,233 --> 00:02:57,800 So for some folks in the intelligence community and the FBI, they feel like they are handcuffed, 51 00:02:59,800 --> 00:03:01,366 they're going to be handcuffed in terms of responding to the allegations in the first 52 00:03:01,366 --> 00:03:02,833 place. 53 00:03:02,833 --> 00:03:05,533 JOHN YANG: And, Devlin, what is the main concern of the FBI? 54 00:03:05,533 --> 00:03:06,666 What are they worried about? 55 00:03:06,666 --> 00:03:08,566 DEVLIN BARRETT: There's two main things. 56 00:03:08,566 --> 00:03:13,133 One, that it would involve the release of sensitive information involving an ongoing 57 00:03:13,933 --> 00:03:16,500 investigation. 58 00:03:16,500 --> 00:03:19,933 Two, that this could set a precedent in which every time an intelligence investigation intersects 59 00:03:21,933 --> 00:03:25,433 with a political matter, that a political committee may decide to just make it public 60 00:03:26,866 --> 00:03:30,266 for reasons that may or may not be valid. 61 00:03:30,266 --> 00:03:34,566 And so that's a dangerous precedent in their minds, and what some people would call you 62 00:03:34,566 --> 00:03:36,900 know politicizing the intelligence system. 63 00:03:36,900 --> 00:03:41,866 JOHN YANG: Now that the FBI has gone public with their objections to this, and we know 64 00:03:41,866 --> 00:03:46,866 what the President Trump's feel being loyalty is, what do you think this does to the standing 65 00:03:49,300 --> 00:03:51,700 Rod Rosenstein and Christopher Wray? 66 00:03:51,700 --> 00:03:56,700 DEVLIN BARRETT: I think Rosenstein has been on thin ice for awhile, and the ice is probably 67 00:03:58,766 --> 00:04:00,866 getting thinner, but that is not a unique condition in this administration and it's 68 00:04:00,866 --> 00:04:05,333 certainly not a unique condition in a number of parts of the Justice Department. 69 00:04:05,333 --> 00:04:09,233 So I think there is a level of risk of alienation. 70 00:04:09,233 --> 00:04:13,033 You know, the White House and the FBI are growing further apart by the day. 71 00:04:13,033 --> 00:04:15,533 In some ways, the White House and the Justice Department are growing further apart from 72 00:04:15,533 --> 00:04:16,766 the day. 73 00:04:16,766 --> 00:04:18,033 Does that reach a breaking point? 74 00:04:18,033 --> 00:04:20,066 We really don't know. 75 00:04:20,066 --> 00:04:24,033 JOHN YANG: In your reporting at the FBI and the Justice Department, do they feel under 76 00:04:24,033 --> 00:04:28,733 siege, under attack by the White House, by this drumbeat of criticism? 77 00:04:28,733 --> 00:04:32,433 DEVLIN BARRETT: I think they do feel under siege, and they feel like a lot of that is 78 00:04:32,433 --> 00:04:37,433 coming from the Hill and conservatives on the Hill who are clearly -- seem clearly very 79 00:04:39,366 --> 00:04:43,466 antagonized and antagonistic toward the origins of the Russia investigation. 80 00:04:44,933 --> 00:04:46,633 But, clearly, also a lot of that is coming from the White House. 81 00:04:46,633 --> 00:04:50,000 There is a great deal of tension there, and they feel that. 82 00:04:50,000 --> 00:04:55,000 JOHN YANG: And you have also got some reporting about the -- what is behind the earlier-than-expected 83 00:04:56,600 --> 00:04:59,700 departure of the deputy FBI director, Andrew McCabe. 84 00:04:59,700 --> 00:05:01,466 DEVLIN BARRETT: Right. 85 00:05:01,466 --> 00:05:03,533 We know what they have been investigating for a number of months. 86 00:05:03,533 --> 00:05:08,266 And they have really been trying to unpack the weeks of October 2016, the month before 87 00:05:09,133 --> 00:05:11,433 the election that Trump won. 88 00:05:11,433 --> 00:05:16,200 And some of that focus, we're told, a big part of that focus for months has been on, 89 00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:21,200 why does there seem to be some delay in the point between when a laptop is found with 90 00:05:23,666 --> 00:05:26,966 some new -- seemingly new Hillary Clinton-related e-mails on it and when there is a full exploration 91 00:05:29,466 --> 00:05:32,333 of what those e-mails are and whether or not they are important? 92 00:05:32,333 --> 00:05:36,700 That gap has been very important in terms of internal fights within the FBI. 93 00:05:36,700 --> 00:05:40,666 And obviously because it's all become publicly known, that gap has also become important 94 00:05:40,666 --> 00:05:44,200 in terms of the questions that the inspector general has been asking of witnesses. 95 00:05:44,200 --> 00:05:49,200 JOHN YANG: Does the fact that Mr. Wray asked or suggested that McCabe leave earlier than 96 00:05:51,166 --> 00:05:55,633 expected suggest something about what is in that I.G.'s report or what the I.G. is finding? 97 00:05:57,633 --> 00:06:00,966 DEVLIN BARRETT: I think it suggests that the report will not give Andrew McCabe a clean 98 00:06:01,700 --> 00:06:04,400 bill of health, I think. 99 00:06:04,400 --> 00:06:09,200 But I think a lot of people are going to be subject to some type of criticism in that 100 00:06:09,200 --> 00:06:11,166 report ultimately. 101 00:06:11,166 --> 00:06:15,433 You know, Andrew McCabe is sort of a unique figure in some ways because is he still in 102 00:06:15,433 --> 00:06:18,500 the government, or at least was until this Monday. 103 00:06:18,500 --> 00:06:21,800 So that played a large role in obviously it affecting him now. 104 00:06:21,800 --> 00:06:26,800 But I think there will be criticism doled out, frankly, in a number of areas related 105 00:06:27,666 --> 00:06:29,766 to the Clinton investigation. 106 00:06:29,766 --> 00:06:33,033 JOHN YANG: And on the Russia investigation, we have just learned that the Justice Department 107 00:06:33,033 --> 00:06:38,033 is asking that Michael Flynn, the former national security adviser, that his sentencing be delayed. 108 00:06:39,333 --> 00:06:41,533 What does that tell us about the investigation? 109 00:06:41,533 --> 00:06:46,533 DEVLIN BARRETT: Well, it tells us that we are a ways away from special counsel Bob Mueller 110 00:06:47,133 --> 00:06:49,300 winding this up. 111 00:06:49,300 --> 00:06:51,666 You know, you put off a sentencing like that when the witness still needs to do work for 112 00:06:51,666 --> 00:06:56,200 you, when there are still things that have to happen on the prosecutorial and investigative 113 00:06:56,200 --> 00:06:58,266 side. 114 00:06:58,266 --> 00:07:01,000 And you don't want to show all your cards in the form of a plea or sentencing hearing. 115 00:07:01,000 --> 00:07:06,000 So that is what it shows, that Mueller needs more time to finish his work. 116 00:07:08,033 --> 00:07:10,533 And, you know, I wouldn't take that as a huge surprise, but I think it's another indicator 117 00:07:10,533 --> 00:07:13,400 that this is likely to go on for many months more. 118 00:07:13,400 --> 00:07:16,733 JOHN YANG: Devlin Barrett of The Washington Post, unpacking a lot of information for us, 119 00:07:16,733 --> 00:07:17,733 thanks a lot. 120 00:07:17,733 --> 00:07:17,866 DEVLIN BARRETT: Thanks, John.