Pelosi: Trump ‘has something to hide’

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) accused the White House of politicizing U.S. intelligence and national security after President Trump blocked the release of a Democratic memo, saying that the president “has something to hide.”

“President Trump’s refusal to release Intelligence Committee Democrats’ memo is a stunningly brazen attempt to cover up the truth about the Trump-Russia scandal from the American people,” Pelosi said in a statement.

“The President’s decision to block the Democratic memo from release is part of a dangerous and desperate pattern of cover-up on the part of the President,” she added. “Clearly, the President has something to hide.”

{mosads}

The California Democrat’s comments came after White House counsel Don McGahn sent a letter to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.) announcing that Trump had moved to block the release of a memo from Democrats on the panel.

That memo was intended to rebut a GOP document released last week alleging that the FBI and Justice Department misused their authority to obtain a surveillance warrant on Carter Page, a former adviser to the Trump campaign.

After the GOP memo was released, Democrats raised questions about the document’s accuracy, and accused Republicans on the committee of trying to derail the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election in order to protect Trump from scrutiny.

The House Intelligence Committee voted on Monday to release the Democrats’ rebuttal, sending it to Trump for review before it could be released.

McGahn said in his letter to Nunes that Trump was “inclined to declassify” the Democratic memo, but that the Trump administration believed it would create “significant concerns” for U.S. national security.