GOP congressman calls for 'purge' of the Justice Department

A Florida congressman has called for a "purge" of the Justice Department, echoing President Trump's own suspicions of a "taint" among the officials. "People need a good, clean government," insisted Rep. Francis Rooney (R-Fla.) on Tuesday.

MSNBC's Hallie Jackson pushed back on Rooney, noting that "there are those who look at comments like the one you're making and say Republicans are working to essentially try to discredit the Department of Justice and thus discredit the Russia investigation."

Rooney, though, insisted that he wasn't trying to discredit anybody. "I'd like to see the directors of those agencies purged," he said. "And say, look, we've got a lot of great agents, a lot of great lawyers here. Those are the people I want the American people to see, and know the good work's being done. Not these people who are kind of the deep state." Watch the whole conversation below. Jeva Lange

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Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.