Sanford wants you to see classified memo on Trump campaign

Rep. Mark Sanford, R-Charleston, is among 64 members of the U.S. House of Representatives who have signed on to a letter calling for the release of classified memo that has become a source of controversy, even as most people don’t know what’s in it.

The letter expresses “deep concern” about the contents of the memo drawn up by the chair of the House intelligence committee, and that reportedly contains details about surveillance of Donald Trump’s campaign before he was elected president.

“Sunlight is the best disinfectant and the American public should be able to read the same memo I read this morning,” Sanford said in a statement this week.

Republican congressmen who have seen the memo say it exposes abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act by the Obama administration. Democrats say it is part of an effort to undermine the ongoing investigation into contacts between the Trump campaign and Russia.

The memo was prepared by GOP committee chairman David Nunes, R-California, who previously removed himself from oversight of the House’s own Russia investigation.

Sanford has raised concerns about the federal government’s use of the surveillance act before, and tried to use the government shutdown fight last week to limit data collection of U.S. citizens.

“This memo on FISA abuse leaves me even more frustrated with the state of surveillance in our federal government, which ties back to the vote we had on the FISA court last week,” he said. “We must work to stop warrantless searches on Americans.”

This story was originally published January 25, 2018 at 7:58 AM with the headline "Sanford wants you to see classified memo on Trump campaign."