Republicans want new special counsel to probe surveillance abuses

Washington could see two special counsel investigations running in parallel if a pair of House Republicans can convince Attorney General Jeff Sessions to appoint a second one in the space of a year.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte and House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy wrote Tuesday to Sessions and his deputy, Rod Rosenstein, asking for a new independent prosecutor to probe the FBI's decision to obtain surveillance warrants covering former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.

The applications, first filed in 2016 under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, led to harsh criticism from GOP politicians who smelled partisanship in the waning days of the Obama administration.

Led by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, Republicans have charged that the FBI misrepresented its case for spying on Carter when agents presented facts to a federal judge.

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