13 House Republicans call on Sessions to appoint second special counsel

Thirteen House Republicans are calling on Attorney General Jeff Sessions to appoint a second special counsel to investigate Hillary Clinton. 

The conservative lawmakers sent a letter to Sessions on Wednesday requesting that he appoint a special counsel to investigate the end of the Clinton email probe, the start of the investigation into Russia’s election meddling and alleged surveillance abuses by the FBI.

“We acknowledge with immense gratitude that nearly every single man and woman in the [Department of Justice] and the FBI conduct themselves daily with integrity, independence, patriotism, objectivity, and commitment to the rule of law,” the letter reads. “That is why this Special Counsel is of utmost importance to ensure that these historic, legendary, and necessary agencies move forward more respected and effective than before.”

{mosads}The letter’s signers were GOP Reps. Lee Zeldin (N.Y.), Mark Meadows (N.C.), Jim Jordan (Ohio), Claudia Tenney (N.Y.), Francis Rooney (Fla.), Matt Gaetz (Fla.), Ted Budd (N.C.), Jody Hice (Ga.), Scott Perry (Pa.), Paul Gosar (Ariz.), Andy Harris (Md.), Louie Gohmert (Texas) and Dave Brat (Va.). 

Jordan and Meadows have been calling for a second special counsel since January after revelations surfaced that the FBI did not save five months worth of text messages between two FBI agents who have been accused of pro-Clinton and anti-Trump bias during the 2016 presidential race.

Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee earlier this month released a memo claiming that senior officials at the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) abused their powers to spy on members of the Trump campaign.

The four-page memo accused the DOJ of obtaining surveillance warrants on Page. 

Democrats on the House Intelligence Committee last week released their countermemo that refutes the GOP memo. 

“Our extensive review of the initial [Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act] application and three subsequent renewals failed to uncover any evidence of illegal, unethical, or unprofessional behavior by law enforcement and instead revealed that both the FBI and DOJ made extensive showings to justify all four requests,” the committee’s ranking Democrat Adam Schiff (Calif.) said.