US Democratic lawmakers have released a rebuttal of a controversial Republican memo. It accuses Republicans of alleged bias and abuse of power in the investigation of possible ties between Russia and Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign. The Democrats also allege that the Republican memo "risks public exposure of sensitive sources and methods for no legitimate purpose". Toby Muse reports.

Democrats released a heavily redacted memo, claiming that there were good reasons for intelligence agencies to be investigating a member of candidate Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign over possible links to Russian intelligence. The memo lays out the reasons the FBI and the Department of Justice had suspicions over Carter Page, an ex-Trump campaign foreign policy advisor. In March 2016, the FBI interviewed Page about his contact with Russian intelligence who had targeted Page for recruitment. The ten-page document accuses Republicans of a "transparent effort to undermine" the FBI, the Department of Justice and the Special counsel overseeing the investigation.

ADAM SCHIFF US CONGRESSMAN "They are trying to put the FBI on trial, trying to put Robert Mueller on trial. And we are showing that the FBI acted appropriately."

The Russia investigation has caused a rift between the president and FBI. President Donald Trump has called the investigation by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, the biggest witch hunt in U.S. history. Republicans have accused both the FBI and the Department of Justice of bias against the president. Republicans have said that this investigation started on the back the so-called Steele dossier, a piece of research that started as political opposition research paid for by Trump's political opponents. The memo released today says that the FBI had their own suspicions of Page independent of partisan research. Trump had initially opposed the release of this memo. But after various pages were redacted, the White House agreed to letting it be released. The Russia investigation has led to a bitter partisan fight in Congress. And the investigation could reveal more in the future. Toby Muse, CGTN, Washington.