“We urge you to reconsider holding this meeting," wrote Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a letter to the deputy attorney general and FBI director. | Win McNamee/Getty Images Schumer, Pelosi: Include us in FBI informant briefing The White House invited two House Republicans — but no Democrats — to a Thursday meeting with DOJ officials on the subject.

The Democratic leaders in the House and Senate on Wednesday demanded that Justice Department officials include them in an upcoming briefing with Republican lawmakers on an FBI informant that made contact with the Trump campaign.

The White House has invited two House Republicans — but no Democrats — to a Thursday meeting with DOJ officials on the subject, which jumped into the spotlight after President Donald Trump accused the Obama administration of planting a "spy" in his campaign as part of a sabotage effort. Law enforcement officials and Democrats have said using the informant was a routine tactic, deployed as part of the government's investigation into Russian contacts with the Trump campaign.


“We urge you to reconsider holding this meeting," wrote Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) and House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) in a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Chris Wray.

"However," they added, "if you have determined in your best judgment that Justice Department participation in the meeting is the only way to prevent this situation from devolving into an outright constitutional crisis, then we believe you must insist on the only appropriate mechanism for highly sensitive briefings that might implicate intelligence sources and methods — a bipartisan Gang of Eight briefing that involves congressional leadership from both chambers.”

The so-called Gang of Eight includes the leaders of both parties in the House and Senate, as well as the top Republicans and Democrats on each chamber's Intelligence Committee.

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The Justice Department has already said the agency's attorney general would investigate Trump's claims that the informant made contact with his campaign "for political purposes." The White House also orchestrated Thursday's briefing for congressional leaders to review the classified materials regarding the FBI informant.

But Democrats were not invited to the meeting, coordinated by White House chief of staff John Kelly, prompting backlash from officials.

Schumer took to the Senate floor to demand inclusion, and House Intelligence ranking member Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) later requested the Gang of Eight get a similar briefing.

“This meeting is completely improper in its proposed form and would set a damaging precedent for your institutions and the rule of law," Schumer and Pelosi wrote in their Wednesday letter, adding that they can "think of no legitimate oversight justification" to offer "investigative information to the president's staunchest defenders in Congress and, ultimately, to the president's legal defense team."

DOJ did not respond to a request for comment regarding Wednesday's letter.

The New York Times reported last week that an FBI informant made contact with the Trump campaign as part of its probe into Russian election meddling in 2016.