House Speaker Paul Ryan's voice of caution regarding the controversial memo released by the House Intelligence Committee Friday has been drowned out by Republicans who are accusing the FBI of a so-called "deep state" bias against President Donald Trump, The Washington Post reports.
The memo, written by Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif., alleges the FBI and the Justice Department abused their authority to obtain a warrant to spy on a former Trump campaign adviser suspected of being an agent of Russia.
Ryan, R-Wis., last week urged lawmakers to restrain from connecting the memo’s findings with the probe by Special Counsel Robert Mueller into possible collusion between Trump's transition team and Russian officials as part of the interference that Russia conducted on the U.S. presidential election in 2016, saying Mueller's investigation "should be allowed to take its course."
The House Speaker also said the memo was "not an indictment of the FBI, or the Department of Justice."
Republican Reps. Mark Meadows, Jeff Duncan and Paul Gosar accused the FBI of abusing its power, with Gosar saying he would be "leading a letter to the Attorney General seeking criminal prosecution against" James Comey, Sally Yates, Andrew McCabe and Rod Rosenstein.
"The FBI is right to have 'grave concerns' — as it will shake the organization down to its core — showing Americans just how the agency was weaponized by the Obama officials/DNC/HRC to target political adversaries," Duncan said in a tweet.
"Ryan's attempt at moderation has simply been steamrollered by a more aggressive wing of his caucus," writes the Post.
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