Utah Rep. Chris Stewart appeared on MSNBC Tuesday to discuss the resignation of FBI deputy director Andrew McCabe and a “secret memo” prepared by Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee.
The memo, which reportedly accuses Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein of misconduct during the investigation into whether Russia interfered with the 2016 election, has been hyped up by some Republicans as being “worse than Watergate.”
Stewart said the memo does not contain any blockbuster revelations, but it is important.
“When you get a chance to read this document, it isn’t a partisan document, it isn’t a pleading before the court. It’s simply a laying out of the facts. We don’t accuse people, we don’t draw any conclusions,” said Stewart.
When asked about the assertions that the memo contains a so-called “smoking gun” that would discredit the Russia investigation, Stewart says he wishes his colleagues wouldn’t have hyped the document so much.
“I wish they wouldn’t have talked about it in such dramatic terms. Frankly, I’ve been saying that for a week or more. Some people are measured and others are being overly dramatic. It makes for great television. It doesn’t help us to raise people’s expectations about what’s in this memo and for them to then say, ‘Well, that didn’t turn out.’ I’ve tried to be measured. It is an important memo. There are meaningful facts laid out in this memo that the American people deserve to see,” he said.
Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee voted to release the memo on Monday over objections from Democrats on the committee and the Department of Justice. President Trump has five days to decide whether to allow the memo to be made public.
Watch the full video below.
