Over the weekend, Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines informed the House Intelligence and House Oversight committees that the intelligence community is conducting a damage assessment of the highly-classified documents taken from former President Donald Trump's home in Mar-a-Lago.

Democratic Congressional candidate Matt Castelli (NY-21) is calling for Republican Rep. Elise Stefanik, who sits on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence (HPSCI), to recuse herself from any review of materials or briefings tied to the investigation.

“I am calling on Congresswoman Elise Stefanik to recuse herself from any House Intelligence Committee review of materials or briefings tied to the investigation of the highly classified documents removed from Mar-a-Lago.,” said Matt Castelli, Congressional candidate for NY-21. “Representative Stefanik’s dangerous rush to judgment, her attacks on Federal law enforcement, and her choice to protect her political future over protecting our national security underscore why she cannot be trusted to provide impartial oversight on this matter. She is a risk to the integrity of the criminal investigation of the former President and our national security.”

A damage assessment will determine risks to national security and to human intelligence sources resulting from the mishandling of documents found at Mar-a-Lago.

"Stefanik, the 3rd ranking member in the House GOP caucus and their Chief Messenger has leveraged her position to shield the former President from any accountability for his actions concerning the illegal handling of highly-classified documents, or his role in the January 6th criminal attacks on our democracy," he said.

Castelli also called on Stefanik to use her platform to apologize to the Department of Justice and the FBI for her attacks against them.

Castelli is a former CIA officer and Director for Counterterrorism at the National Security Council who served in both the Obama and Trump White Houses. He is running to defeat Elise Stefanik and represent the people of NY’s 21st Congressional District. Learn more at www.castelliforcongress.com