Senate Republicans call on DOJ to appoint special counsel in Obama-Russia investigation

FIRST ON FOX: Sens. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and John Cornyn, R-Texas, are asking Attorney General Pam Bondi to appoint a special counsel to investigate newly declassified information about the Obama administration’s intelligence assessments about Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Graham and Cornyn’s call for a special counsel, which Fox News Digital learned they are announcing Thursday morning, comes the day after the Department of Justice (DOJ) created a "strike force" to investigate the evidence, which was declassified by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard this month.

Graham and Cornyn, both senior members of the Senate Judiciary Committee, did not address the strike force but indicated in a statement that special counsels, who are outside officials brought in to oversee politically sensitive cases, operate independently of the attorney general.

Fox News reached out to the DOJ for comment on the special counsel request.

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"As we have supported in the past, appointing an independent special counsel would do the country a tremendous service in this case," Graham and Cornyn said.

Gabbard’s declassified intelligence shed new light on the Obama administration’s determination that Russia sought to help President Donald Trump in the 2016 election. Gabbard alleged Wednesday during a press briefing that Obama and his intelligence officials promoted a "contrived narrative that Russia interfered in the 2016 election to help President Trump win, selling it to the American people as though it were true. It wasn't."

Graham, who previously served as chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, led the Senate's inquiry into the FBI's investigation into alleged Trump-Russia collusion and released a tranche of documents in 2020 suggesting the bureau had a flimsy basis for opening its investigation into Trump.

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"With every piece of information that gets released, it becomes more evident that the entire Russia collusion hoax was created by the Obama administration to subvert the will of the American people," Graham and Cornyn said.

Their remarks follow Trump accusing former President Barack Obama of "treason" this week and after the DOJ opened criminal investigations into former CIA Director John Brennan and former FBI Director James Comey. 

Critics say Gabbard's claims have been contradicted by past congressional reviews, some of which were led by Republicans. Obama, meanwhile, issued a statement in response to the wave of headlines suggesting he attempted to hurt Trump's election chances.

"Out of respect for the office of the presidency, our office does not normally dignify the constant nonsense and misinformation flowing out of this White House with a response," Obama spokesperson Patrick Rodenbush said. "But these claims are outrageous enough to merit one. These bizarre allegations are ridiculous and a weak attempt at distraction."

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.