Lawmakers demand 2nd special counsel

Rep. Louie Gohmert, R-Texas, speaks to reporters May 22, 2018, about a resolution signed by 17 House Republicans calling for a second special counsel. (Photo: Rep. Louie Gohmert via Twitter)

On the heels of the launch of an inspector general investigation of alleged politically motivated misconduct by Justice Department and FBI officials during the 2016 presidential election, 17 Republican House members introduced a resolution Tuesday calling for a second special counsel.

Spearheaded by Rep. Lee Zeldin, R-N.Y., the 12-page resolution focuses on the closure of the FBI's probe of Hillary Clinton's mishandling of classified information, the Trump-Russia investigation and the origins of the appointment of Robert Mueller as special counsel, and alleged abuses of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act in obtaining a warrant to spy on the Trump campaign.

On Sunday, Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein asked Justice Department Inspector General Michael Horowitz to review a claim that the Obama administration placed an FBI informant inside the Trump campaign in 2016.

In an interview Monday with WND, Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said the inspector general review is "necessary" but "not sufficient" and warned that the Justice Department and FBI could use an IG investigation to prevent public disclosure of documents. He urged Congress "to keep up the pressure."

On Tuesday, Zeldin explained in a Fox News live interview why he things another special counsel is necessary.

"There are countless cases where you see people at the highest levels of the DOJ and FBI allowing their personal biases to overwhelm their objectivity, their better judgment in performing their duties," he said.

Zeldin said no evidence has surfaced of any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia, yet "we have all of this evidence of all of this misconduct at the highest levels of the DOJ and FBI."

At a news conference later Tuesday introducing the resolution, Zeldin argued the Justice Department "cannot be expected to investigate itself."

He was joined, among others, by Freedom Caucus chairman Mark Meadows of North Carolina and Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Louie Gohmert of Texas, Claudia Tenney of New York and Jody Hice of Georgia.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions already has rejected requests for a second special counsel. However, in March he appointed John Huber, a U.S. attorney in Utah, to examine allegations related to the Russia probe.

Democrats have criticized calls for a second special counsel as an attempt to undermine Mueller's investigation and protect the president.

'Scandal of gigantic proportions'

Hice told Fox News Tuesday afternoon that appointing a special counsel would be a step in the right direction.

"Just to think of the possibility of our federal government spying on private citizens and infiltrating a campaign, like the Trump campaign, is infuriating," he said. "It is as far away from what America is supposed to be as one can imagine."

Why a second special counsel?

"Because we haven't got any answers," he said. "Truth and justice and transparency, these are pillars of our American government. They are not even partisan issues. They are who we are as a nation. The rule of law is our backbone."

Hice said that "when you have people who are high up in the FBI and the Department of Justice either ignoring the law or creating one of their own, we then, as members of Congress, are accountable to hold them to the standard of law."

"We've not been able to get to that point, and so a special counsel, I believe, is necessary to get to the bottom of what's been going on," the Georgia congressman said.

Hice was asked if Sessions, a Republican, "has let you down."

"Why can't you look to him?" asked Fox News host Harris Faulkner.

"I think he made a huge mistake when he recused himself," Hice replied. "In fairness, hindsight is always 20/20. But what this whole Mueller investigation has turned into is a disgrace."

Hice said there's a "potential scandal of gigantic proportions," perhaps bigger than any in the nation's history, from the Obama administration's handling of Hillary Clinton's abuse of classified information to the use of the anti-Trump dossier of unverified Russian claims funded by the Democrats to spy on American citizens.

"I mean, this thing goes deep, and it is something the American people cannot stand about Washington, the deep state, and this is what we've got to get to," he said.

Hice said he's not a "huge fan" of special counsels, which tend to go "broad and wide," but "it's time that we investigate the investigators."

"We've got one issue after another that is chilling," he said.

He noted Obama himself, according to a text between FBI agent Peter Strzok and agency lawyer Lisa Page, wanted to know "everything" that was going on in the investigation.

"What does 'everything' mean," Hice asked. "I mean that's a huge term. We've got to get to the bottom of this."