Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) said: "I think it is fair to ask the deputy attorney general, 'What did you know at the time you signed one of the applications?'" | AP Photo Gowdy: 'I don't' think Rosenstein should be fired

Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) said Sunday he doesn't think Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein should be fired.

Rosenstein oversees special counsel Robert Mueller's probe on whether Russia colluded with Donald Trump's presidential campaign.


Gowdy, the chairman of the House Oversight Committee, said during an interview on CBS' "Face the Nation" that it concerns him that Trump's confidence in Rosenstein is faltering. He added: "The president has not sought my counsel on this."

Over the past couple of weeks, Rosenstein has come under increased scrutiny from the president, in addition to GOP lawmakers.

When asked whether he thinks Rosenstein should be fired, Gowdy said: "I don't."

The South Carolina Republican said: "I think it is fair to ask the deputy attorney general, 'What did you know at the time you signed one of the applications?' I think it is fair to ask, 'What FISA reforms are you going to implement to make sure we don't have this fact pattern come up again?' I don't judge people based on a single decision that they make throughout the course of an otherwise really stellar career."

Gowdy's comments came after the release Friday of the Nunes memo, a formerly classified memo that alleges bias by FBI officials who helped launch a federal probe into whether Russia colluded with Trump’s campaign team.

According to the memo, Rosenstein approved at least one renewal of a surveillance warrant. Democrats have claimed that the memo aims to politicize intelligence and distort facts of the Trump-Russia investigation.