House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff has urged two top intelligence officials to resign instead of allowing Trump to declassify Spygate documents.
According to Schiff, CIA Director Gina Haspel and Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats, should resign in order to resist Trump’s move to declassify intelligence related to the Russia investigation.
Washingtonexaminer.com reports: “If it gets to a point they are asked to do things that are unlawful or jeopardize the men and women that work within the I.C., they should speak out,” the California Democrat told the New York Times, “and, if necessary, follow the example of Secretary Mattis.”
Mattis resigned late last year in protest of Trump’s plan to pull U.S. troops out of Syria and Afghanistan.
On Thursday, Trump gave Attorney General William Barr “full and complete authority to declassify information” related to the origins of the federal investigation into possible ties between the Trump campaign and the Kremlin and instructed the heads of several agencies, including Haspel and Coats, to cooperate with the inquiry.
Schiff railed against the decision. “While Trump stonewalls the public from learning the truth about his obstruction of justice, Trump and Barr conspire to weaponize law enforcement and classified information against their political enemies,” he tweeted. “The coverup has entered a new and dangerous phase. This is un-American.”
Although Haspel has yet to speak out about the order, Coats offered some reassurance about the limited scope of what can be made available to the public.
“Much like we have with other investigations and reviews, the Intelligence Community will provide the Department of Justice all of the appropriate information for its review of intelligence activities related to Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election,” Coats said in a statement Friday. “As part of that process, I am confident that the Attorney General will work with the IC in accordance with the long-established standards to protect highly-classified information that, if publicly released, would put our national security at risk.”