Part of a memo authorizing probe of election interference remains secret. A judge wants to know why

Associated Press

ALEXANDRIA, Va. (AP) — A judge is pressing the U.S. government to explain why a portion of the memo authorizing Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation of foreign election interference and former President Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign remains classified seven years after it was issued. At a hearing Friday in U.S. District Court in Alexandria, Virginia, Judge Leonie Brinkema gave the Justice Department until Wednesday to explain why the passage must remain classified. A group of media organizations is asking that the section of the memo from then-Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein be made public. It says it believes the classified portion refers to allegations that Egypt covertly gave $10 million to Trump’s cash-strapped campaign in the final days of the 2016 campaign.