DOJ shows House Intelligence the document that prompted Russia investigation, but with redactions

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Updated at 6:48 p.m.

The Justice Department has shown the House Intelligence Committee the document that Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., says prompted the FBI’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election and possible collusion with the Trump campaign.

According to a Justice Department official, Nunes, ranking member Adam Schiff, D-Calif., and all members of the committee were provided access to the requested document on Wednesday.

Nunes sent a letter to Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and FBI Director Christopher Wray last week threatening to take legal action if the DOJ and FBI did not turn over the document, noting that the House Intelligence Committee issued subpoenas in August that “remain in force.”

The deadline Nunes set was today, April 11.

In a statement Wednesday, Nunes thanked Rosenstein, but warned his committee’s subpoenas from last year “remain in effect.”

“After numerous unfulfilled requests for an Electronic Communication (EC) related to the opening of the FBI’s Russia counterintelligence probe, Chairman Trey Gowdy and I met this afternoon with Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein,” Nunes said. “During the meeting, we were finally given access to a version of the EC that contained the information necessary to advance the Committee’s ongoing investigation of the Department of Justice and FBI. Although the subpoenas issued by this Committee in August 2017 remain in effect, I’d like to thank Deputy Attorney General Rosenstein for his cooperation today.”

The Intelligence Committee subpoenaed the FBI on Aug. 24, 2017 for a broad range of documents, including the two-page originating document, commonly called the Electronic Communication, or EC.

Last week a top DOJ official wrote back to Nunes, saying the DOJ and FBI would make an “extraordinary accommodation” to the House Intelligence Committee by allowing all of its members access to review Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act applications and renewals. That offer was also being extended to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Nunes on Sunday said this was a “nice” gesture, but maintained that it was “crazy” the Justice Department would not produce an unredacted version of the two-page document.

During an interview Tuesday night on Fox News, Nunes threatened Rosenstein and Wray with the danger of impeachment.

“We are not messing around,” he said.

According to a Justice Department official, redactions were “narrowly tailored” to protect the name of a foreign country and the name of a foreign agent — redacting the names and replacing them with “foreign government official,” “foreign government embassy,” “foreign official,” “foreign government,” and “foreign government identifier.”

“These words must remain redacted after determining that revealing the words could harm the national security of the American people by undermining the trust we have with this foreign nation,” the official said, noting that because the words’ appearances are limited, they “do not obstruct the underlying meaning of the document.”

According to the official, the Justice Department has also turned more than 1,000 pages of classified materials to the committee, and believes they “have substantially satisfied Chairman Nunes’ August subpoena in an appropriate fashion.”

Nunes has also requested unrestricted access to four Federal Intelligence Surveillance Act applications the Justice Department used to obtain the authority to spy on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

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