Probe sought to look into Justice Dept.
Two Republicans calling for a new special counsel
WASHINGTON — Two Republican House committee chairmen are calling for a new special counsel to take a broad look at whether Justice Department or FBI employees were biased as they began investigating President Donald Trump’s ties to Russia in 2016 and whether there were surveillance abuses as part of that probe.
Reps. Robert Goodlatte of Virginia and Trey Gowdy of South Carolina wrote Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein to ask for the new special counsel, whose work would be separate from special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Trump andrussia.
Republicans have alleged surveillance abuses in the department, releasing a declassified memo last month that detailed the use of political opposition researchtoobtaina warrant to monitor a former adviser to Trump’s campaign. Democrats countered with their own memo that said the FBI only “made narrow use” of that research paid for bydemocrats.
Goodlatte is chairman of the House Judiciary Committee and Gowdy is chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee. Gowdy is also on the Judiciarypanel.
“With respect to potential and actual conflicts of interest, decisions made and not made by both former and current Department of Justice and FBI officials have led to legitimate questions and concerns from the people whom we all serve,” the two men wrote. “There is evidence of bias, trending toward animus, among those charged with investigating serious cases.”
Republicans on the Judiciary Committee have also asked for a special counsel to investigate the decisions surrounding the FBI’S now-closed investigation of Hillary Clinton’s emails.
Gowdy did not join in the Clinton request, but said that he believes it is important for an independent investigator to look into the surveillance. He said Congress doesn’t have “the tools or the public confidence” to do an investigation on its own. He said a special counsel could look into potential criminal issues, such as whether FBI agents made any misrepresentations to the secret court as it sought the warrant on the Trump adviser, Carter Page.