Trump blocks release of Democratic memo on Russia probe

U.S. President Donald Trump attends the National Prayer Breakfast in Washington, U.S. February 8, 2018. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump on Friday blocked the release of a classified memo written by House of Representatives Democrats that rebutted a Republican document made public last week which alleged anti-Trump bias in the FBI's Russia probe.

In a letter to House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, White House counsel Don McGahn said Trump had decided against approving public release of the memo "because the memorandum contains numerous properly classified and especially sensitive passages."

(Reporting by Eric Beech; Editing by Eric Walsh)