House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., wants the Justice Department to investigate if White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus did anything wrong by allegedly contacting the FBI about reports of ties between Trump administration officials and Russia.
Recent reports said Priebus tried to get the FBI to tell the press that Trump’s team was not in touch with Russia during the campaign, something the White House has rejected. But Pelosi said the report warrants a closer look.
“The Trump White House has been caught trying to pressure the FBI into undermining a vital national security investigation into the explosive ties between senior Trump officials and Russian intelligence agents, an action which is in violation of Department of Justice rules and which may also be illegal,” she stated on Friday as she called on the Justice Department’s inspector general to look into the matter.
“Political interference in the integrity of an FBI investigation into the conduct of White House officials is a grave abuse of power,” she continued. “The rule of law depends on the FBI’s complete independence, free from political pressure from the targets of its investigations.”
She also renewed Democrats’ call for Congress to create an independent commission to probe possible collusion between the Trump White House and Moscow, something House Republicans have said is unnecessary.
