The Memos from the Democrats on the House Intel Committee has been

Democrats release redacted memo pushing back on GOP claims of DOJ abuse of government surveillance powers

Democratic Memo Defends FBI Surveillance of Ex-Trump Adviser

The 10-page redacted memo written by Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee amounts to a rebuttal of a separate Republican memo released earlier this month. That memo alleged opposition research on Mr. Trump that was partly funded by the Democratic Party was the driving force in the government’s surveillance applications on Carter Page, who served as foreign-policy adviser to Mr. Trump. Mr. Page hasn’t been accused of any wrongdoing.

The memo’s release was blocked by the White House for weeks over concerns about the disclosure of classified information. The redacted version released Saturday was the product of negotiations among Democrats on the committee, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Justice Department and the White House.

The GOP memo alleged that Mr. Page was improperly surveilled on the basis of information from former British spy Christopher Steele, whose work was being paid through Democratic Party intermediaries.

The Democratic memo released Saturday said that in asking a court to approve surveillance of Mr. Page, federal investigators relied on much more information than the Steele research, detailing Mr. Page’s “past relationships with Russian spies and interaction with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign.”

Mr. Page has confirmed he was targeted for recruitment by Russian intelligence officers operating under diplomatic cover in a high-profile 2015 New York spy case. He wasn’t charged with any crimes in the case.

While the Republican memo said the FBI and Justice Department had omitted from its warrant application that Mr. Steele’s research had been funded by the Democratic Party and the Hillary Clinton campaign, the Democratic memo states the application clearly disclosed the document was produced by a party “likely looking for information that could be used to discredit” then-candidate Trump.

A focus of the Republican memo was the FBI and Justice Department’s treatment of Mr. Page, whom it described as a “volunteer adviser to the Trump presidential campaign.”

Law-enforcement officials obtained four court approvals to surveil Mr. Page, the first in October 2016, and then three renewals. The Democratic memo noted that Mr. Page parted ways with the Trump campaign before the Justice Department applied for a warrant.

House panel releases Democrats’ memo defending FBI surveillance of ex-Trump campaign aide