Pressed on how he knows the Justice Department won't share the information Republicans have asked for, Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said he couldn't comment, and then added it was based on "rhetoric" and recent history. | Alex Wong/Getty Images Trump allies already angry about upcoming FBI informant briefing

The Justice Department hasn't indicated what documents or information it intends to provide two GOP lawmakers in a classified briefing Thursday about an FBI informant who made contact with President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. But top Trump allies in Congress are already signaling they expect to be disappointed.

"They’re not going to see any documents tomorrow, so it doesn’t matter," Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) told reporters.


"Going to a briefing without seeing the documents," he added, "is worthless."

Pressed on how he knows DOJ won't share the information Republicans have asked for, Meadows paused at length and then said he couldn't comment. He later added it was based on "rhetoric" and recent history. Several other House GOP lawmakers expressed similar pessimism that DOJ would share the desired "documents."

The early resignation from Trump's staunchest Capitol Hill backers suggests GOP lawmakers are preparing for another round of conflict and confrontation with the Justice Department, regardless of what the briefing provides. Meanwhile, Democrats have been clamoring to participate in the highly classified session, arguing that a partisan briefing is inappropriate and would further Republican attempts to undermine ongoing investigations into the Trump campaign's contacts with Russia.

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The briefing is the end-result of an April move by House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes to subpoena the Justice Department for all documents connected to the FBI's informant, who reportedly met with at least two Trump aides during the 2016 presidential race in an effort to suss out what privileged knowledge the campaign may have had of Russian election hacking.

DOJ denied Nunes' request, issuing a sharply worded rejection that warned of risks to national security — and even to people's lives — if classified details about the informant were shared with Congress. The exchange then escalated, with Nunes threatening to hold Attorney General Jeff Sessions in contempt of Congress. Eventually, the White House got involved, organizing a call between chief of staff John Kelly, Nunes and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to calm tensions.

But following the call, speculation about the informant fueled allegations by Trump and allies that the FBI had spied on his campaign.

"I think people are going to see a lot of bad things happened," Trump told reporters Wednesday morning. "I hope it's not so, because if it is, there's never been anything like it in the history of our country."

He labeled the episode "spygate" and blasted the "criminal deep state" in a series of morning tweets.

Earlier this week, Nunes and House Oversight Chairman Trey Gowdy were invited to meet with top Justice Department officials on Thursday after Trump intervened and forced DOJ to engage them on the matter.

The exchange has infuriated Democrats, who say sharing the information with Nunes — a partisan lightning rod — would amount to assisting Trump's efforts to undercut the ongoing investigation into his campaign's contacts with Russia. Trump's attorney Rudy Giuliani has said the president's defense team should be apprised of the informant's role.

“He wants them to turn over the information that exists about the informant to the House and Senate committees,” Giuliani told POLITICO. “All the memos they have. That’ll indicate what the informant found. Then those should be made available to us on a confidential basis. We should be at least allowed to read them so we know this exculpatory evidence is being preserved.”

On Wednesday morning, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi and Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer jointly asked for the briefing to include members of the "Gang of Eight," which includes the Republican and Democratic leaders of the House and Senate, as well as the Republican and Democratic leaders of each branch's intelligence committee. But Speaker Paul Ryan's office signaled that he's content to allow Nunes and Gowdy to handle the briefing.

Meadows, who speaks frequently with Trump, said he's comfortable with Democrats attending the meeting and would encourage their inclusion. But he called it a futile exercise because there's little chance DOJ will be forthcoming.

"It is the most frustrating thing because of the doublespeak — yes you can quote me — the doublespeak that we get out of the DOJ about being willing to help when they don’t really have any intention," he said.

Meadows said holding top DOJ officials in contempt of Congress or revisiting a debate over impeaching them "should be" on the table if the department doesn't provide information. He also renewed a call made by Trump's top House allies for DOJ to appoint a special counsel to look into the FBI officials who launched the Russia probe in the first place.

"That’s the easiest way to avoid contempt or impeachment is to get a second special counsel," he said.

Darren Samuelsohn contributed reporting.