Defying Trump, the FBI and DOJ Reportedly Plan to Redact Declassified Documents Anyway

It was just days ago that President Trump ordered the declassification of documents that Republicans in the House of Representatives had requested.

The documents which Trump ordered to be released, included unredacted pages from the FISA warrant application that was used to surveil former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page, as well as the unredacted text messages of Bruce Ohr, Lisa Page, Peter Strzok, James Comey and Andrew McCabe, related to the Russia investigation .

Democrats in the House believe this is just another attempt by President Trump to selectively release documents which will strengthen his own defense in the Special Counsel investigation. Trump, on the other hand, says that the release of these classified documents is simply about being transparent.

The FBI and DOJ feel as though the release of these documents will put their sources and methods at risk. Congressman Adam Schiff (D) says that FBI Director Christopher Wray and Deputy AG Rod Rosenstein told him that the release would be considered “a red line that must not be crossed as they may compromise sources and methods.”

Now reports from Bloomberg News say that the FBI and DOJ plan to defy Trump by proposing redactions anyway. The redactions being proposed “would keep some information secret,” as opposed to a full public, unredacted release like the president has requested.

According to Bloomberg, the DOJ and FBI are expected to provide their redacted suggestions to the Office of the Director of National Intelligence, who will then hand them over to the White House for review. President Trump, however, has the ability to supersede these agencies and remove the redactions entirely, if desired.

“President Trump, in a clear abuse of power, has decided to intervene in a pending law enforcement investigation by ordering the selective release of materials he believes are helpful to his defense team and thinks will advance a false narrative,” said Congressman Adam Schiff on Monday.

Regardless of what happens, the release of these documents will not come instantly.