Bill Maher interviewed Republican Representative Darrell Issa, former chair of the House Oversight Committee, on Real Time Friday night. The interview came with a surprising twist: Issa voiced his support for a special prosecutor investigation of President Donald Trump's ties to Russia during the campaign.

"Say the Russians hacked only Mitt Romney [in 2012] and there was a lot of contact between the Obama administration and Russia," Maher asked Issa. "You going to let that slide?

"No," Issa said.

"Oh, so you're not going to let this slide?" Maher asked, referring to allegations that Trump's campaign communicated with Russia.

"No," Issa replied. "We're going to ask the intelligence committees of the House and Senate to investigate within the special areas they oversee."

Maher continued to press Issa on the issue, asking if he supported calls for Attorney General Jeff Sessions to recuse himself from the investigation, since he was intimately involved in the campaign.

"You're right that you cannot have somebody—a friend of mine, Jeff Sessions—who was on the campaign and who is an appointee. You're going to need to use the special prosecutor's statute and office," Issa said.

Of course, as former chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Issa doesn't have the power to initiate an investigation, but it is nice to hear a Republican do more than completely deny even the appearance of wrongdoing, as has been the refrain from the Trump administration. Whether this independent investigation comes to fruition, however, is another story.

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