Florida Republican Rep. Ron DeSantis has submitted an amendment to the forthcoming House spending package that would restrict Special Counsel Robert Mueller from continuing the Russia investigation 180 days after the measure became law.
According to The Hill, the amendment would also prohibit Mueller from investigating “matters occurring before June 2015.”
That period of time is when Trump declared his run for the White House.
“Congress should use its spending power to clarify the scope and limit the duration of this investigation. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein has said that the DOJ doesn’t conduct fishing expeditions; the corollary to this admonition should be that Congress will not fund a fishing expedition,” DeSantis said in a statement.
Democrats, however, are attempting to protect the Mueller investigation through amendments of their own. Politico reports New York Democratic Rep. Nita Lowey proposed an amendment to bar the Justice Department from preventing Mueller from conducting the probe.
Mueller was first appointed as special counsel last May to probe Russia’s influence peddling in the presidential election as well as claims of potential collusion between President Trump’s campaign personnel and the Kremlin.
Former FBI Director James Comey, who Trump fired last May over the Russia probe, previously testified he purposely leaked his own memos related to private conversations with the president as a way to trigger a special counsel.