House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) suggested Tuesday that "there may have been malfeasance by people at the FBI." Ryan's concession follows Monday's controversial vote by the House Intelligence Committee to release a secret memo that reportedly accuses senior FBI officials of misusing their authority to obtain a surveillance order on President Trump's former campaign associate, Carter Page. Democrats, as well as a number of conservatives, have blasted the memo for fueling speculation of a deep state conspiracy.
Ryan said: "It is our job in conducting transparent oversight of the executive branch to get to the bottom of that. Sunshine is the best disinfectant. And so what we want is all of this information to come out so that transparency can reign supreme and accountability can occur."
The Department of Justice had warned that making the memo public would be "extraordinarily reckless." The editor at large of The Weekly Standard, Bill Kristol, told The Washington Post: "It's pretty astonishing to have members of Congress and fairly serious commentators clamoring for the release even as Trump's Justice Department says they should wait for a full review. It's a distressing sign that the irresponsibility and conspiracy theorizing on the right is not just on the far right but among top people."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Eel-egal trade: the world’s most lucrative wildlife crime?Under the Radar Trafficking of juvenile ‘glass’ eels from Europe to Asia generates up to €3bn a year but the species is on the brink of extinction
-
Political cartoons for November 2Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include the 22nd amendment, homeless camps, and more
-
The dazzling coral gardens of Raja AmpatThe Week Recommends Region of Indonesia is home to perhaps the planet’s most photogenic archipelago.
-
Nobody seems surprised Wagner's Prigozhin died under suspicious circumstancesSpeed Read
-
Western mountain climbers allegedly left Pakistani porter to die on K2Speed Read
-
'Circular saw blades' divide controversial Rio Grande buoys installed by Texas governorSpeed Read
-
Los Angeles city workers stage 1-day walkout over labor conditionsSpeed Read
-
Mega Millions jackpot climbs to an estimated $1.55 billionSpeed Read
-
Bangladesh dealing with worst dengue fever outbreak on recordSpeed Read
-
Glacial outburst flooding in Juneau destroys homesSpeed Read
-
Scotland seeking 'monster hunters' to search for fabled Loch Ness creatureSpeed Read
