House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters Tuesday he is in favor of the public release of a memo, which alleges the FBI abused its surveillance tools, but said he is telling GOP House members that there needs to be separation between those allegations and the special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation.
The House Intelligence Committee voted along party lines Monday to publicly release a classified memo written by Republicans alleging FBI abuses in the agency's surveillance, an aggressive move that could feed a GOP push to undercut special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation and ratchets up a battle with the Justice Department.
Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee are considering using an obscure committee rule to bypass the executive branch's declassification process to release the classified memo on alleged surveillance abuses spearheaded by Chairman Devin Nunes.
President Donald Trump's former chief strategist Steve Bannon faced angry lawmakers from both parties during a contentious interview that stretched more than 10 hours on Tuesday, as he was hit with subpoenas on multiple fronts and was accused by a top Democrat of agreeing to a White House "gag order."
House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes announced Wednesday evening that the committee had reached an agreement with the Justice Department about his outstanding document and witness requests related to the Russia investigation.
The Justice Department has agreed to allow congressional investigators to interview a key FBI employee believed to have served as the main contact, or "handler" of, former British intelligence agent Christopher Steele, who compiled the so-called "dossier" of allegations about President Donald Trump's connections to Russia, according to a department spokesperson.
House intelligence committee Chairman Devin Nunes declined Tuesday to say if he had stepped aside from the House Russia probe -- deflecting questions about his role one week after he signed off on the first subpoenas in the investigation.
