JUDY WOODRUFF: Now to the
remarkable public fight that has
erupted between the White House

and the FBI over the release
of a secret House Intelligence
Committee memo that, as John

Yang reports, is part of
the Russia investigation.

JOHN YANG: Judy, conservative
Republicans have been urging
President Trump to release

the four-page classified
document, believing it would
discredit the FBI and the Russia

investigation.

Last night, as Mr. Trump
left the House chamber
after the State of the
Union address, he seemed

to assure Republican
Representative Jeff Duncan
of South Carolina that
he would make it public.

REP.

JEFF DUNCAN (R), South Carolina:
Let's release the memo.

DONALD TRUMP, President of
the United States: Oh, yes.

Don't worry, 100 percent.

Can you imagine it?

JOHN YANG: This morning, White
House Press Secretary Sarah
Sanders suggested on CNN that

the release could
take some time.

SARAH HUCKABEE SANDERS, White
House Press Secretary: We
have said all along, from day

one, that we want full
transparency in this process.

We haven't hidden that.

But at the same time,
we're still going to
complete the legal and
national security review

that has to take place before
putting something out publicly.

And that's the place
where we are right now.

JOHN YANG: Later, the FBI issued
a statement saying, "We have
grave concerns about material

omissions of fact that
fundamentally impact
the memo's accuracy."

To make sense of all of this,
we are joined now by Devlin
Barrett, who covers the Justice

Department and FBI for
The Washington Post.

Devlin, thanks for joining us.

As you reported, Deputy Attorney
General Rod Rosenstein and
FBI Director Christopher Wray

were at the White House on
Monday to make their case in
person to the chief of staff,

John Kelly.

What does it mean that they
felt the need to go public
this afternoon or today with

that statement?

DEVLIN BARRETT, The Washington
Post: Well, frankly, in some
ways, it means that they

expect they have already
lost this battle.

As you saw in the president's
statement the congressional
floor last night, as you see

in frankly the body language
of many public officials in
the administration and on the

Hill, everyone involved in
this really expects this
memo will come out very soon.

And I think as much as the
statement is an attempt to say
the reasons why it shouldn't

come out, I think it's
also frankly a statement
to the public to say
don't assume what you

read here is the absolute truth.

This may not be -- and obviously
the FBI is saying it isn't
-- this isn't an accurate

accounting of what we
do and how we do it.

JOHN YANG: And because of
the underlying documents
or what this is based
on, they can't -- or

they are constrained on
what they can say after it's
released; is that right?

DEVLIN BARRETT: Well, right.

Part of the rub from the point
of view of the intelligence
agencies is that the House

is going to release a set of
-- a classified document that
has a set of assertions in it.

To rebut those assertions,
presumably, you will need --
and I am told you would need

- - another set of
classified information
which those agencies aren't
allowed or really inclined

to release because
it's classified.

So for some folks in the
intelligence community
and the FBI, they feel
like they are handcuffed,

they're going to be handcuffed
in terms of responding to
the allegations in the first

place.

JOHN YANG: And, Devlin, what
is the main concern of the FBI?

What are they worried about?

DEVLIN BARRETT: There's
two main things.

One, that it would involve
the release of sensitive
information involving an ongoing

investigation.

Two, that this could
set a precedent in which
every time an intelligence
investigation intersects

with a political matter, that
a political committee may
decide to just make it public

for reasons that may
or may not be valid.

And so that's a dangerous
precedent in their minds, and
what some people would call you

know politicizing the
intelligence system.

JOHN YANG: Now that the FBI
has gone public with their
objections to this, and we know

what the President Trump's feel
being loyalty is, what do you
think this does to the standing

Rod Rosenstein and
Christopher Wray?

DEVLIN BARRETT: I think
Rosenstein has been on
thin ice for awhile,
and the ice is probably

getting thinner, but that
is not a unique condition in
this administration and it's

certainly not a unique
condition in a number of parts
of the Justice Department.

So I think there is a level
of risk of alienation.

You know, the White House
and the FBI are growing
further apart by the day.

In some ways, the White House
and the Justice Department
are growing further apart from

the day.

Does that reach
a breaking point?

We really don't know.

JOHN YANG: In your reporting
at the FBI and the Justice
Department, do they feel under

siege, under attack by
the White House, by this
drumbeat of criticism?

DEVLIN BARRETT: I think they
do feel under siege, and they
feel like a lot of that is

coming from the Hill and
conservatives on the Hill who
are clearly -- seem clearly very

antagonized and antagonistic
toward the origins of
the Russia investigation.

But, clearly, also a lot of that
is coming from the White House.

There is a great deal of tension
there, and they feel that.

JOHN YANG: And you have
also got some reporting
about the -- what is behind
the earlier-than-expected

departure of the deputy FBI
director, Andrew McCabe.

DEVLIN BARRETT: Right.

We know what they have
been investigating for
a number of months.

And they have really been
trying to unpack the weeks of
October 2016, the month before

the election that Trump won.

And some of that focus, we're
told, a big part of that
focus for months has been on,

why does there seem to be some
delay in the point between
when a laptop is found with

some new -- seemingly new
Hillary Clinton-related
e-mails on it and when
there is a full exploration

of what those e-mails
are and whether or not
they are important?

That gap has been very
important in terms of internal
fights within the FBI.

And obviously because it's all
become publicly known, that
gap has also become important

in terms of the questions
that the inspector general
has been asking of witnesses.

JOHN YANG: Does the fact that
Mr. Wray asked or suggested
that McCabe leave earlier than

expected suggest something about
what is in that I.G.'s report
or what the I.G. is finding?

DEVLIN BARRETT: I think it
suggests that the report will
not give Andrew McCabe a clean

bill of health, I think.

But I think a lot of people
are going to be subject to
some type of criticism in that

report ultimately.

You know, Andrew McCabe is
sort of a unique figure in some
ways because is he still in

the government, or at least
was until this Monday.

So that played a large role in
obviously it affecting him now.

But I think there will be
criticism doled out, frankly,
in a number of areas related

to the Clinton investigation.

JOHN YANG: And on the
Russia investigation, we
have just learned that
the Justice Department

is asking that Michael
Flynn, the former national
security adviser, that
his sentencing be delayed.

What does that tell us
about the investigation?

DEVLIN BARRETT: Well, it tells
us that we are a ways away from
special counsel Bob Mueller

winding this up.

You know, you put off
a sentencing like that
when the witness still
needs to do work for

you, when there are still things
that have to happen on the
prosecutorial and investigative

side.

And you don't want to show
all your cards in the form of
a plea or sentencing hearing.

So that is what it shows,
that Mueller needs more
time to finish his work.

And, you know, I wouldn't take
that as a huge surprise, but
I think it's another indicator

that this is likely to go
on for many months more.

JOHN YANG: Devlin Barrett of
The Washington Post, unpacking
a lot of information for us,

thanks a lot.

DEVLIN BARRETT: Thanks, John.