Former White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said Monday that politics “at the highest levels” played a role in eroding trust at the Department of Justice.
“At the very least people can debate these two memos, but one thing that no one can debate is that politics played a role. And when politics plays a role at the DOJ, I think it creates problems,” Mr. Priebus said on Fox News.
He was referring to the dueling memos about a warrant issued by the FISA court — a secretive court system Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act used to obtain surveillance warrants. The court came under scrutiny when Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee said the FBI used evidence funded by the Democratic National Committee to obtain a warrant on former Trump campaign adviser Carter Page.
Republicans released a memo a few weeks ago outlining their allegations, but Democrats refuted this accusation in their own memo released over the weekend.
“And you erode trust when you insert politics like this in such a blatant way,” Mr. Priebus said.
He added that there is no evidence of collusion between the Trump campaign and the Russians, and that Mr. Page is incapable of such charges. The warrant was issued under the grounds of possible collusion during the campaign. Special counsel Robert Mueller is still investigating the allegation.
SEE ALSO: Devin Nunes: FISA court cannot exist if political evidence is allowed
• Sally Persons can be reached at spersons@washingtontimes.com.
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