Rep. Jeff Duncan (R-SC) waited for “hours” according to one reporter, in order to shake President Donald Trump’s hand and ask him, on camera, to “release the memo.”
“Oh, don’t worry,” Trump replied. “A hundred percent. Can you imagine that? He’d be too angry.”
CSPAN published the clip after Trump completed his first State of the Union address Tuesday:
CLIP: As President Trump exits the House Chamber, @RepJeffDuncan asks him to #ReleaseTheMemo. #SOTU #SOTU2018 pic.twitter.com/O1hHYFdPxM
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 31, 2018
NBC News’ Frank Thorp noted that Duncan “waited HOURS to save that seat to ask President Trump to release the Nunes memo.”
The memo Duncan referenced to the President is one written by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee that supposedly shows an anti-Trump bias in the Obama-era Justice Department and FBI. Democrats have said the memo pulls selectively from a much longer application for a FISA warrant.
The committee voted on party lines to release the memo Monday. Trump has said he supports its release, though the Justice Department has said the move would risk national security.