MSNBC host Andrea Mitchell on Monday said that House Intel chairman Devin Nunes Devin Gerald NunesSunday shows preview: Justice Ginsburg dies, sparking partisan battle over vacancy before election Sunday shows preview: With less than two months to go, race for the White House heats up Sunday shows preview: Republicans gear up for national convention, USPS debate continues in Washington MORE (R-Calif.) "has destroyed the credibility" of the committee, adding that he has turned the panel "into a joke."

“I’m not hearing a lot of Republican senators in the United States Senate being as reckless as their counterparts in the House,” "Morning Joe" co-host Joe Scarborough said to Mitchell during a discussion about a New York Times report that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein Rod RosensteinDOJ kept investigators from completing probe of Trump ties to Russia: report Five takeaways from final Senate Intel Russia report FBI officials hid copies of Russia probe documents fearing Trump interference: book MORE approved a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act application in 2017 to conduct surveillance on former Trump campaign associate Carter Page, according to a claim in a secret Republican memo.

"They’re not [being as reckless in the Senate]," responded Mitchell, who also serves as the chief foreign affairs correspondent for NBC News. "But you also do not hear them suggesting that if Mueller were fired, or Rosenstein, which could be more significant because he is overseeing Mueller’s investigation, that they would take action. It’s a real softening of the backbone, the spine, in the Senate as well."

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"But they’re not commenting on Nunes and this memo at all. They’re considering it a House problem. And Nunes was cleared by the Ethics Committee on that unmasking probe so that gave him the leeway, he believes and his supporters believe, to jump right back in," she continued.

"He never stopped issuing subpoenas and interfering with the probe, according to critics on the House Intelligence Committee, and this has destroyed the credibility of the House Intelligence Committee."

"The fact that Sens. [Mark] Warner (D-Va.) and [Richard] Burr (R-N.C.) are working so closely together on the Senate side, for the most part, has at least preserved that committee," Mitchell concluded. "But the House Intelligence Committee, frankly, is a joke, despite the efforts of Rep. Adam Schiff Adam Bennett SchiffTop Democrats call for DOJ watchdog to probe Barr over possible 2020 election influence Overnight Defense: Top admiral says 'no condition' where US should conduct nuclear test 'at this time' | Intelligence chief says Congress will get some in-person election security briefings Overnight Defense: House to vote on military justice bill spurred by Vanessa Guillén death | Biden courts veterans after Trump's military controversies MORE (D-Calif.) and others, Rep. [Eric] Swalwell (D-Calif.) and others, to preserve their investigative work."

According to three unnamed sources who spoke to The New York Times, the FBI and Justice Department's application was based partially on research conducted by former British MI6 agent Christopher Steele, whose investigation for a dossier paid for by the Democratic National Committee — and Hillary Clinton Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Democratic super PAC to hit Trump in battleground states over coronavirus deaths Battle lines drawn on precedent in Supreme Court fight MORE's 2016 presidential campaign in its latter stages — included unverified and scandalous claims about then-candidate Donald Trump Donald John TrumpBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Trump dismisses climate change role in fires, says Newsom needs to manage forest better Jimmy Kimmel hits Trump for rallies while hosting Emmy Awards MORE's ties to Russia.

The Times report added there's no indication at this time that the FBI or DOJ acted improperly when attempting to secure the surveillance warrant on Page.

"Democrats who have read the document say Republicans have cherry-picked facts to create a misleading and dangerous narrative," reads the Times's Sunday report. "But in their efforts to discredit the inquiry, Republicans could potentially use Mr. Rosenstein’s decision to approve the renewal to suggest that he failed to properly vet a highly sensitive application for a warrant to spy on Mr. Page, who served as a Trump foreign policy adviser until September 2016."