Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) predicted that the GOP efforts "will accelerate" in the waning days of the GOP-controlled Congress in part because so much of their probe had been put on hold until after the election. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images Legal GOP running out of time to grill Russia investigators

House Republicans who have rallied behind President Donald Trump's claims that the FBI attempted to railroad him in 2016 are suddenly racing a two-month clock to produce results before a Democratic takeover obliterates their year-long crusade.

Trump's top allies in Congress have fueled a months-long probe into divisive claims that anti-Trump bias at senior levels of the FBI and Justice Department fueled the bureau's investigation of Russian ties to the Trump campaign. Their allegations, echoed and amplified by Trump himself, led multiple GOP-led committees to brawl with the intelligence community over access to sensitive documents and force senior Justice Department officials to appear for heavily politicized depositions.


Democrats, though, call the efforts a sham meant to provide political cover to Trump as he fends off special counsel Robert Mueller's encroaching investigation -- and they've long signaled that they'd shutter the GOP effort in the next Congress.

That leaves Republicans still agitating to continue the probe with a two-month scramble to tick off a lengthy and increasingly contentious to-do list: they want to depose Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein and former FBI Director James Comey. They've sought new testimony from a raft of former Obama administration Justice Department officials. So far, those interview requests have not been backed by subpoenas. But with time running short, Democrats anticipate Republicans will use their remaining power to try to force the issue.

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Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.), one of Trump's closest allies in Congress, predicted that the GOP efforts "will accelerate" in the waning days of the GOP-controlled Congress in part because so much of their probe had been put on hold until after the election. Meadows and other Trump backers have been urging the president to declassify and release sensitive documents connected to the FBI's Russia probe, which Trump has so far hesitated to produce. He also wants the leaders of the GOP probe to subpoena key witnesses who have so far refused to testify.

One complicating factor: The two GOP lawmakers in charge of the investigation — House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and House Oversight Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) — are both retiring in January, and they haven't always relished the conflict between the House and Justice Department. But Meadows and Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), who have fueled much of the investigation, appear unlikely to let up.

Meanwhile, Democrats are already nervously eyeing House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, who has wielded his gavel to squeeze the intelligence community over its handling of the Russia probe as well. Nunes signaled in September that he intended to release 72 transcripts of interviews that the panel conducted in its own effort to piece together the Russian plot to interfere in the 2016 election. But so far those documents remain secret.

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the top Democrat on the committee, has long accused Nunes of working to undermine Mueller's investigation and has pledged to chart a different course if he becomes the committee's chairman.

"I can't wait to see what ridiculous shenanigans Nunes tries to pull before Schiff takes over as chairman in January," said Matt Miller, a former Justice Department spokesman, on Wednesday morning.

It's unclear whether any of the GOP-led panels intends to issue new findings, documents or reports before the Democratic takeover.

