White House likely to approve on Friday release of memo

ABOARD AIR FORCE ONE - 2 February 2018: The White House will probably tell Congress on Friday that President Donald Trump has approved the public release of a Republican congressional memo alleging FBI bias against him, likely without redactions, a White House official said on Thursday.

"We have had the last couple of days to look at it to make sure it doesn't give away too much in terms of classification. And right now I think it'll be, we'll tell the Congress, probably tomorrow, that the president is OK with it," the official told reporters on Air Force One as Trump returned to Washington after speaking at a Republican retreat in West Virginia. "I doubt there will be any redactions. And then it's in the Congress's hands after that," the official added.

Democrats have denounced the memo as an effort by Trump's fellow Republicans to undermine Special Counsel Robert Mueller's criminal probe into potential collusion between Trump's 2016 presidential campaign and Russia and whether Trump has tried to obstruct the investigation.