Washington, DC – Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, a member of the House Homeland Security Committee and its Subcommittee on Counter Terrorism and Intelligence, and the Ranking Member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, Homeland Security, and Investigations, issued the following statement regarding the President’s decision whether or not to release the Nunes Memo:

“As a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, I have spent years overseeing the FBI and the Department of Justice. This includes interactions with Attorneys General, Deputy Attorneys General, FBI Directors and Deputy Directors of the FBI. These agencies are s a major part of the national security apparatus. Therefore, their assessment of issues dealing with security, intelligence, and matters which may undermine its mission are taken very seriously by all members of Congress.

“If an FBI Director makes a personal appeal to the President detailing the long-term harm that would occur to the Bureau’s investigatory mission if a document is released, then that warning should be heeded. During my tenure in Congress, I have never seen such admonitions and apprehensions by our national security team overridden or overlooked.

“It is further shocking that the White House Chief of Staff, a former general in the United States Military, would recklessly advise the President to ignore the counsel of career counter-terrorism experts.

“Therefore, I believe it is crucial that the Department of Justice and the FBI take legal action to enjoin the white house from releasing the document at this time, or insist in the courts that the Democratic response to the Nunes Memo be simultaneously released.

“Clearly, FBI Director Wray believes releasing the Memo would result in irreparable harm. Having read the both the Nunes Memo and the Democratic response, I believe the characterizations by the FBI Director regarding the Nunes Memo deserve both attention and adherence to. This is a shameful period in the history of America.”