Washington (CNN) President Donald Trump on Saturday tweeted a brief explanation for why he rejected the request to declassify a Democratic memo from the House Intelligence Committee.

Trump called the memo "very political and long" and said he "told them to re-do and send back in proper form."

"The Democrats sent a very political and long response memo which they knew, because of sources and methods (and more), would have to be heavily redacted, whereupon they would blame the White House for lack of transparency," Trump said on Twitter. "Told them to re-do and send back in proper form!

The Democrats sent a very political and long response memo which they knew, because of sources and methods (and more), would have to be heavily redacted, whereupon they would blame the White House for lack of transparency. Told them to re-do and send back in proper form! — Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 10, 2018

On Friday, White House counsel Don McGahn informed the committee of the President's decision, writing in a letter that although Trump is "inclined to declassify" the memo spearheaded by the panel's ranking member, California Rep. Adam Schiff, "he is unable to do so at this time."

"However, given the public interest in transparency in these unprecedented circumstances, the President has directed that Justice Department personnel be available to give technical assistance to the Committee, should the Committee wish to revise the February 5th Memorandum to mitigate the risks identified by the Department," McGahn wrote.

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