Congressional Democrats expressed their thanks to House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy after he said he believes the FBI acted appropriately when it worked with a confidential informant during its investigation into Russian meddling.
“I’m grateful that Congressman Gowdy, a Republican of South Carolina, stepped forward and made this important statement,” Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., said during an interview Wednesday on CNN. “… In this matter, I think he’s stepping forward and putting to rest the baseless allegations by President Trump.”
Coons called President Trump’s claims the FBI embedded a spy in his presidential campaign “baseless” and said they “undermine the United States around the world.”
In addition to Coons, Democratic Rep. Ted Lieu of California praised Gowdy for his comments.
“Thank you Trey Gowdy for speaking the truth,” he tweeted.
Thank you Trey Gowdy for speaking the truth. https://t.co/s9sBqxNU8i
— Ted Lieu (@tedlieu) May 30, 2018
Gowdy broke with the president during a Tuesday evening interview with Fox News while discussing the FBI’s confidential informant who met with three Trump campaign aides during the 2016 campaign.
The senior Republican lawmaker was one of nine Republican and Democratic members who last week were briefed by Justice Department and FBI officials about the use of the confidential source, later identified by media reports as academic Stefan Halper.
While the president has accused the bureau of spying on his campaign for political purposes — dubbing the controversy “spygate” — Gowdy said he doesn’t believe the FBI of acting improperly.
The South Carolina Republican told Fox News the president himself said he wanted the bureau to investigate whether any member of his campaign had ties to Russia.
