Forty-six Senate Republicans demand AG Garland respect independence of Durham investigation

Forty-six Senate Republicans demanded Wednesday that Attorney General Merrick Garland respect the independence of Special Counsel John Durham's investigation into the FBI’s Russia probe of the Trump campaign in the 2016 election.

The senators led by Rick Scott of Florida wrote a letter to Garland one week after Durham filed a motion linking Hillary Clinton campaign attorney Michael Sussman and other campaign lawyers to a technology company hired to "mine" Trump data servers "for the purpose of gathering derogatory information about Donald Trump."

"We write to seek your assurance that you will continue to respect the prosecutorial independence of Special Counsel John Durham and his staff, while also ensuring he is provided all resources necessary to fully, thoroughly, and completely pursue the investigation for which he was appointed," the senators wrote Garland. 

The only Republican senators to not sign the letter were Sens. Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins, Mitt Romney and Bill Cassidy.

The 46 other senators said Durhams' findings include "highly concerning, and potentially criminal, manipulation and exploitation of federal law enforcement resources to target American citizens, including a presidential candidate, based upon fabricated evidence that had been procured and disseminated by individuals closely connected with a rival political campaign."

The senators asked Garland to support Durham's "important work until all those responsible for the fraud committed upon the American people are brought to justice."

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton denied the accusations against her campaign on Twitter Wednesday and blamed former President Donald Trump. 

"Trump & Fox are desperately spinning up a fake scandal to distract from his real ones," she said.