Another top Republican rips Trump's FBI "spygate" claims

Rep. Tom Rooney, a retiring top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee, has joined other conservatives disputing President Trump’s unsupported claim that the FBI planted a spy inside his 2016 campaign, Politico reports.

Why it matters: Rooney was one of three House Republicans who lead the Intelligence Committee's year-long investigation into possible links between the Trump campaign and Russia. Rooney's comments, Politico notes, “were the most forceful repudiation to date from a Republican lawmaker.” Speaker Paul Ryan earlier Wednesday joined Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.,) one of the committee’s leaders of the probe, in saying there's "no evidence" that the FBI acted inappropriately.

“What is the point of saying that there was a spy in the campaign when there was none? You know what I’m saying? It’s like, ‘Lets create this thing to tweet about knowing that it’s not true.’ … Maybe it’s just to create more chaos but it doesn’t really help the case.”