Rep. Adam Schiff, the ranking Democratic member on the House Intelligence Committee, arrives to watch U.S. President Donald Trump deliver his State of the Union address to a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S. January 30, 2018. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The top Democrat on the U.S. House of Representatives Intelligence Committee said on Wednesday a memo by the panel’s Republicans opens the door for the White House to fire the special counsel probing Russia’s alleged meddling in the U.S. election or the No. 2 official at the Justice Department.

“It ... increases the risk of a constitutional crisis by setting the stage for subsequent actions by the White House to fire (Special Counsel Robert) Mueller or, as now seems more likely, Deputy Attorney General Rod J. Rosenstein,” Representative Adam Schiff said in an opinion piece in the Washington Post.