WASHINGTON • Democrats have cautioned US President Donald Trump that firing top law enforcement officials over the investigation into his campaign's links to Russia could spark a dangerous "confrontation", as Republican lawmakers broke ranks to say the probe should go on unhindered.
The warnings came two days after the Republican-led House intelligence committee released a declassified memo that claims Democrat-funded research prompted the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to spy on former Trump campaign aide Carter Page.
Democrats stoutly resisted the memo's release, saying it was "deliberately misleading" and possibly intended to lay the groundwork for Mr Trump to fire senior officials and subvert the Russian election meddling investigation led by Mr Robert Mueller.
In a sign of an emerging split in the President's party, four Republican members of the intelligence committee - Representatives Trey Gowdy, Chris Stewart, Will Hurd and Brad Wenstrup - said the memo should not be allowed to undermine Mr Mueller's investigation.
Senator Dick Durbin, the No. 2 Senate Democrat, warned that any move by Mr Trump against senior officials involved in the inquiry could have grave consequences.
"The question at that moment is whether or not the majority Republicans in the House and the Senate will stand up for the rule of law and the Constitution if the President takes that extreme position," he said on CNN.
"If the President takes this extreme action, I am afraid that it could lead to a confrontation we do not need in America," he added.
Mr Durbin contested the suggestion that the FBI's application to a special court for authority to conduct surveillance on Mr Page failed to note that the request was based partly on a dossier funded by Democrats.
The senior Democrat on the intelligence committee, Representative Adam Schiff, insisted on Sunday that "the court was notified there was a political actor involved".
"The goal here is to undermine the FBI, discredit the FBI, discredit the Mueller investigation, do the President's bidding," Mr Schiff said on ABC News.
Mr Schiff has said that he wants a committee vote soon to release his own secret memo responding to the Republicans' document.
Mr Trump tweeted last Saturday that the memo "vindicated" his insistence that there was "no collusion and there was no obstruction". He said leaders of the FBI and Justice Department had acted in a "disgraceful" fashion.
But the Republicans' Mr Gowdy, Mr Stewart, Mr Hurd and Mr Wenstrup took pains on Sunday to show support for Mr Mueller, Deputy Attorney-General Rod Rosenstein and FBI chief Christopher Wray, at a time when the FBI and Justice Department are facing almost unprecedented criticism from a United States president.
Said Mr Hurd on ABC: "I want to stress that Bob Mueller should be allowed to turn over every rock... so we can have trust knowing what Russia did or did not do."
Former Central Intelligence Agency director Leon Panetta also defended the work of US law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Mr Panetta, a Democrat who also served as defence secretary under former president Barack Obama, said it would be "a big mistake" if Mr Trump moved to fire Mr Rosenstein or Mr Mueller.
"If he tries to go after them and tries to somehow appear to be obstructing the process... he is going to hurt himself, he is going to hurt the presidency, but more importantly, he is going to hurt the country."
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
