House Speaker Paul Ryan of Wis., left, accompanied by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Ky., speaks to reporters outside the White House in Washington, Monday, Feb. 27, following their meeting with President Donald Trump inside. | AP Photo Ryan: 'We need answers' on alleged ties between Trump associates and Russia

Speaker Paul Ryan on Tuesday said that the American people “need answers” on whether President Donald Trump or his allies have ties to Russia but stopped short of calling for a special prosecutor to investigate.

“We need answers. We need to make sure that nothing happened that shouldn't have happened as we go forward. That's exactly what we do in our jobs [in] Congress,” Ryan said in an interview with NBC's Matt Lauer that aired Tuesday on "Today."


Republican Rep. Darrell Issa of California on Friday called for a special prosecutor to look into alleged ties between the president’s associates and Russia. But during a news conference Monday, Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), the chairman of the House intelligence committee, said there’s no evidence of inappropriate communications between Trump’s associates and Russia.

“We still have not seen any evidence of anyone from the Trump campaign or any other campaign, for that matter, that's communicated with the Russian government,” Nunes said.

That comment was hotly disputed by Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.), the ranking Democrat on the intelligence committee, who criticized Nunes for drawing a conclusion before the investigation has completed.

When asked about appointing a special prosecutor to look into the alleged ties, Ryan deferred, saying that it’s up to the executive branch.

But he added that congressional intelligence committees can adequately handle such a probe.

“Both the House and the Senate intelligence committees are beginning their investigations right now. We've had one for a while. We're increasing the scope of the investigation,” Ryan said. “We think the intelligence community is the right place to do it.”

