Washington (CNN) Former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper on Friday called Republicans' push to release a classified memo that alleges the FBI abused its surveillance authority a "blatant political act."

"Transparency is a great thing, but let's be factual and objective about it, and this clearly is a pretty blatant political act," Clapper said on CNN's "New Day."

The former intelligence leader said the FBI did the right thing by "trying to defend themselves" against the allegations in the memo. The FBI released a public statement Wednesday warning the agency has "grave concerns about material omissions of fact that fundamentally impact the memo's accuracy."

Clapper said he hopes the FBI "takes the opportunity to rebut the memo."

The House Intelligence Committee voted along party lines Monday to release the GOP memo, and under an obscure committee rule, President Donald Trump was given five days to decide whether to agree or object to the release. Trump is expected to tell the committee he wants the memo released.

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