President Donald Trump has returned a classified Democratic memo to the House Intelligence Committee after blocking its release.

The memo counters a Republican memo that contains claims that the FBI abused government surveillance powers while investigating Russian interference in the 2016 election.

The president's lawyer, Donald F. McGahn, says the memo contains numerous classified and sensitive passages. He says the president would consider releasing it if the House Intelligence Committee revises the memo to mitigate the risks.

Last week, the president declassified the contents of the Republican memo despite objections form the Justice Department and F.B.I. 

The top Democrat on the committee is criticizing Trump for treating the two documents differently.

The committee can either make those changes or seek a vote from the House to override the president's decision.