“The president generally sides on the side of transparency,” White House legislative affairs director Marc Short said of President Donald Trump on Sunday. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Trump supports release of FBI intelligence memo, White House aide says

President Donald Trump supports the release of a classified memo that allegedly reveals misconduct by senior FBI officials involved in investigating his campaign, a White House official said Sunday.

Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," White House legislative affairs director Marc Short said he does not know what’s in the memo. The Justice Department has warned that releasing it without first consulting the agency would be “extraordinarily reckless.”


“Those are rational concerns,” Short said. “But at the same time, I think the president is more inclined for transparency in this investigation. To the extent that the House, I think, has advocated that it's publicly released, I think the president is receptive to that.”

“The president generally sides on the side of transparency,” Short said. “Yes, I think he believes that should be put out.”

The memo, drafted by Republican House Intelligence Committee staffers, has become a cause célèbre in conservative media and on Twitter, where its most active cheerleaders include one of the president’s sons, Donald Trump Jr. It alleges that FBI agents seeking a fall 2016 warrant to surveil Trump campaign adviser Carter Page concealed the role that a controversial private dossier alleging Kremlin influence over Trump played in their decision, according to sources who have read it.

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Democrats charge that Republicans are making an unprecedented push to declassify material for partisan gain, noting that the panel has never before voted to disclose classified information.

Justice Department and FBI officials have implored committee Republicans to show them the memo before publicly alleging misconduct — and potentially exposing sensitive national security information.

The committee could vote as soon as Wednesday on whether to release the controversial document.

Separately, Short declined to say whether Trump wants to fire Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading the Russia investigation.

“I’m not aware the president ever intimating that he wanted to fire Robert Mueller,” Short said.

“The White House continues to cooperate in every manner, provided any document that the special counsel has asked for,” he said. "I am not familiar in any conversation I’ve had with the president ever intimating he wanted to fire Robert Mueller.”

Short also declined to say whether Trump would sign legislation barring the president from firing a special prosecutor. “I don’t know hypothetically,” he said.

