The president also said in the tweet — without elaboration — that “key Allies” had called to urge him not to declassify the documents. The material includes direct references to conversations between American law enforcement officials and Christopher Steele, the former British spy who compiled a dossier alleging ties between the Trump campaign and Russia. Some of the documents at issue involve the beginnings of the Russia investigation, when law enforcement officials submitted an application seeking permission from the secretive Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court to wiretap Mr. Mr. Trump and his Republican allies have claimed that law enforcement officials misled the court to get that permission. The president’s declassification order on Monday called on law enforcement officials to release about two dozen pages from the surveillance application.

Source: New York Times September 21, 2018 16:22 UTC