House Speaker Paul Ryan told reporters Tuesday he supports the Department of Justice inspector general looking into the FBI's use of confidential informant Stefan Halper during the 2016 campaign to find out what interaction some Trump campaign aides were having with Russians.
CNN:
"I think, number one, having the IG report is very important and giving the IG the latitude to take the investigation where it needs to go," Ryan told reporters at a weekly news conference.
"It's really important that we conduct a proper oversight of the executive branch to make sure that that power is not or has not or will not be abused," Ryan said. "That's ultimately the big picture of what's going on here. And so I think it's important that we just let the truth come out on all these things."
He was responding to questions by reporters after Trump demanded over the weekend that the Justice Department look into whether the FBI "infiltrated or surveilled" his campaign.
In spite of there being no evidence, President Trump and his allies have been claiming the FBI may have embedded a spy, intentionally trying to taint the use of an informant which is normal counterintelligence procedure.
Ryan also continued to defend Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee, such as Chairman Devin Nunes, who've been leading a push against the Justice Department to provide information about the confidential source.
"The (Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act) requests are legitimate oversight requests, so it is wholly appropriate for the document requests that our committees of jurisdiction have made because it has been within the entire scope of the investigation form the get-go," Ryan said.
Paul Ryan supports Justice Department IG investigation into Trump campaign surveillance (CNN)