Susan Rice documented a January 2017 meeting with Obama, Comey, and Yates after being directed to do so by the White House counsel's office

Susan Rice, the former national security adviser, said through her attorney Friday that she documented a controversial January 2017 meeting she had with senior Obama administration officials because they were "justifiably concerned" about ties between Russia and members of the incoming Trump administration.
Rice's attorney said she memorialized the meeting upon the advice of the White House counsel's office, and that she was not aware of the existence of the FBI's Russia investigation at the time.
That Rice acted to document the meeting after being advised to do so by the White House counsel's office is a key indication of how concerned the Obama administration was about the potential national-security risks of sharing classified intelligence with the Trump transition team.

The attorney representing former national security adviser Susan Rice said Friday that Rice memorialized a January 2017 meeting between herself and senior Obama administration and law enforcement officials because they were "justifiably concerned" about the risks that could come with sharing classified intelligence with President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration.

Rice's attorney, Kathryn Ruemmler, made the assertion in a letter to the Senate Judiciary Committee explaining why Rice documented the meeting, which took place on January 5, 2017. Rice contemporaneously memorialized the discussion fifteen days later, on January 20.

During the meeting, Rice's memo said, then-President Barack Obama suggested intelligence officials be cautious about sharing information about the Russia investigation with the Trump transition team, "particularly" incoming national security adviser Michael Flynn.

Rice memorialized the discussion on January 20, 2017 upon the advice of the White House counsel's office, Ruemmler's letter said. Two sources with knowledge of the matter confirmed to Business Insider that Rice did not approach the White House counsel's office to seek advice about creating a memo following the meeting. Rather, they said, the White House counsel's office approached her and directed her to document the meeting, which Rice subsequently did.

That Rice acted on the White House counsel's advice was a key indication of how concerned the Obama administration was about the potential national-security risks brought by members of the new administration, legal experts said Friday.

The letter added, contrary to Senate Republicans' claims, that the January 5 meeting did not include any discussion of former British spy Christopher Steele or the Steele dossier, an explosive collection of memos alleging Trump-Russia collusion that the FBI is using as a roadmap in its investigation.

Rice was not aware of the Russia investigation at the time of the meeting, according to Ruemmler's letter. She first learned of the investigation when then FBI director James Comey publicly confirmed its existence in March 2017. She was also "not informed of any FISA applications sought by the FBI in its investigation, and she only learned of them from press reports after leaving office," the letter said, responding to questions about whether Rice had knowledge of the FBI's application to surveil former Trump adviser Carter Page.

Republicans first raised concerns about Rice's memo on February 8, 2018. letter sent to Rice

Susan Rice documented a January 2017 meeting with Obama, Comey, and Yates after being directed to do so by the White House counsel's office

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