House Intelligence Committee votes to release Nunes memo

The House Intelligence Committee has voted to release a Republican memo that supposedly details abuses and bias at the Justice Department. The committee voted down the release of a Democratic-written counter memo.

The panel voted to release the four-page memo, written by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-CA), that reportedly describes classified information about biased decisions made by senior DOJ officials regarding surveillance of former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.

As CNN noted prior to the memo's release, the vote to release the classified information triggered a never-before-used rule that will give President Donald Trump five days to decide whether to publish the memo's findings publicly.

The memo has stirred controversy in recent weeks. It was only viewed by Trump-appointed FBI Director Christopher Wray on Sunday, and the Republican-led Senate Intelligence Committee has not been granted access to its contents. Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA), a member of the House Intelligence Committee, called it a "brainwashing memo" on Monday and said its only purpose was to "poison the well" against congresspeople who could hold Trump accountable should he fire special counsel Robert Mueller.