In an interview with Fox News’ Maria Bartiromo Sunday, outgoing Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) said that he believes the appointment of a second special counsel, tasked with probing widespread FISA abuse, ‘may be unavoidable.’

Partial transcript via Daily Caller:

“You know, Maria, this Democrat memo makes me smile. If it were up to Adam Schiff, if it were up to him it would have been a haiku, and not a memo because he did everything he could to keep us from finding out any of the information that was in either one of those memos,” he said. “So Congress has proven itself incapable of investigating this FISA abuse. DOJ should not be looking into it. We need an independent arbiter that’s either the inspector general or special counsel.” […] TRENDING: BREAKING: Omaha Bar Owner Charged For Killing Rioter Who Attacked Him and His Business Has Committed Suicide “You need an independent arbiter, and the Department of Justice cannot investigate itself. Horowitz can– Horowitz is a fair guy, but when there are two dozen witnesses that have left the department or worked for another agency, someone else has to do it and I am reluctant to call for special counsel, but I think it may be unavoidable in this fact pattern.”

Gowdy’s colleagues, such as Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL), believe the appointment of a second special counsel is a foregone conclusion.

Joining Judge Jeanine Pirro on “Hannity” Friday evening, Gaetz urged Attorney General Jeff Sessions to get rid of his ‘dereliction of duty’ mindset and appoint a second special counsel — or resign immediately.

.@RepMattGaetz: “If Jeff Sessions does not appoint a second special counsel, then we need a new Attorney General.” #Hannity pic.twitter.com/eb4U7WqSgk — Fox News (@FoxNews) March 3, 2018

GAETZ: “If Jeff Sessions does not appoint a second special counsel, then we need a new Attorney General, Judge. You are absolutely right. Even if we learn more horrifying things from the Inspector General, we can’t actually prosecute somebody for those things because we would need somebody to be able to bring that case and the Department of Justice and FBI obviously won’t be bringing a case against themselves. So Jeff Sessions needs to get rid of this mindset that is a dereliction of duty and he needs to do what Congress has called for and appoint a second special counsel to get to the bottom of this.”

Earlier this month, Deputy Press Secretary Raj Shah told reporters on Air Force One that President Trump’s lawyers have approved the idea of appointing a second special counsel to investigate the FBI and DOJ’s actions during the 2016 Presidential election, reported Axios.