(CNN) - The Justice Department has warned Republican Congressman Devin Nunes against releasing a memo that claims to show surveillance power abuses.
Specifically, the memo purportedly relates to DOJ surveillance activities in the Russia investigation.
The DOJ says releasing it would be "reckless," especially if Nunes doesn't show it to the department first, which he is refusing to do. Assistant Attorney General Stephen Boyd, a Trump appointee, notified the congressman by letter Thursday.
Democrats are countering with their own memo, saying that the GOP memo has misleading findings. Rep. Jerry Nadler, D-NY, told CNN on Thursday why he thinks the Republican memo should not be released.
"It shouldn't come out, because I have read it and I've read the underlying source material. It is profoundly misleading," Nadler said. "Suffice it to say, the document is, extremely misleading as compared to the underlying documents. It is very dangerous for the Republicans here to say, 'Oh, we've got this document that's terrible but we can't tell you what's behind it. We can't show you the evidence because that's secret.'"
Nunes, the House Intelligence Committee chair, also refused to give Republican Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr's staff access to the memo. The FBI director made a personal appeal for it as well, the letter states.
Copyright 2018 CNN. All rights reserved.
