GOP Rep.: Memo ‘Exposes The FBI’ For Going ‘After A Political Opponent’

Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA) at the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee meeting to organize for the 115th Congress on January 24, 2017. (Photo By Bill Clark/CQ Roll Call/Getty)
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Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA) said Friday he is “good” with House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes’ (R-CA) memo being released, because Hice believes it “exposes the FBI” for abusing its power to come “after a political opponent.”

When asked on CNN whether he was comfortable with the President releasing the memo because he reportedly thinks the document will help discredit special counsel Robert Mueller’s probe into Russian interference in the 2016 election, Hice skirted the question multiple times and theatrically claimed Republicans and Democrats “need to rally around this … for all of our sakes.”

Most of the people at the FBI are great people, doing a wonderful job, but there are bad apples and it’s going to expose it,” he said. “There’s no question it makes the department look bad. It does name some bad apples. But this is a type of thing that transparency is made of. We cannot tolerate this type of thing in America of all places.”

Hice said the FBI is cautioning against the memo’s release because “they’re shaking in their boots” over the content of the document, which allegedly shows evidence of an anti-Trump bias within the FBI. While the FBI has expressed “grave concerns” over the public release of the document, the agency said in a statement Wednesday that they believe the memo includes “material omissions of fact.”

To be very honest with you, as an American citizens, I have grave concerns,” Hice said, mimicking the FBI’s language. “I have grave concerns about what the FBI has done, what the Department of Justice has done and the fact that this could happen to anyone is intolerable for this to go on in the United States. It needs to be transparent and the people of America need to see it.”

The White House is expected to make a decision about the memo before the end of the week, but Trump has indicated he fully plans on making the document public.

According to reports from multiple news outlets, the memo purports to show that FBI officials abused the FISA process when seeking a warrant to surveil Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

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