House Intelligence panel Democrats call memo release 'shameful'

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Democrats on the U.S. House Intelligence Committee slammed a controversial memo released by the panel's Republicans on Friday, calling it a "shameful effort to discredit" the FBI, the Justice Department and a federal investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election.

"The selective release and politicization of classified information sets a terrible precedent and will do long-term damage to the Intelligence Community and our law enforcement agencies," they said in a statement.

The Democrats said they hoped to release their own memo responding to the allegations on Feb. 5.

(Reporting by Susan Heavey and Makini Brice; Editing by Frances Kerry)