Florida GOP Rep. Francis Rooney said Tuesday he wants leaders at the Department of Justice and the FBI to "purge" officials he says are politically biased against President Trump.

"People need a good, clean government," Rooney said in an interview on MSNBC.

In recent weeks, Republicans have sounded the alarm that bias within the law enforcement community is compromising Special Counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russia's election interference and possible collusion with Trump associates.

In the interview, Rooney mentioned FBI agent Peter Strzok, whom Mueller removed from the Russia investigation after learning about texts he sent disparaging Trump. He also raised concern about Justice Department official Bruce Ohr, who was reportedly demoted for hiding ties to Fusion GPS, the company behind a notorious dossier alleging Trump's ties to Russia.

The freshman Republican from Naples said these revelations were "nerve-wracking" and went on to call the Russia probe "off-the-rails" and the work of the "deep state."

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"I would like to see the directors of these agencies purge it and say 'look, we have a lot of great agents, a lot of great lawyers here'," he told host Hallie Jackson. "Those are the people that I want the American people to see and know the good work being done, not these people that are kind of the deep state."

The congressman's use of the word "purge" – a term more commonly associated with authoritarian dictators than democratic societies – caused a stir on Twitter.

"Been reading biographies of Stalin lately? Stop. Now," tweeted MSNBC host (and former Florida GOP congressman) Joe Scarborough.

Author and former campaign strategist Brian Klaas, a frequent Trump critic, said the comment reflects an "ongoing, well-strategized attempt to politicize rule of law to create impunity for the leader and his entourage—so Republicans can try to discredit Mueller’s eventual damning report."

It's not the first time Rooney, who served as ambassador to the Holy See under President George W. Bush, criticized the Russia investigation. Three days ago, Rooney on MSNBC, called the probe "so hopelessly partisan and compromised."

Not every Republican agrees.

In an interview last week,. Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., said he trusted Mueller to conduct a thorough and even-handed investigation.

"I remain convinced that when this is all said and done, Mueller is going to only pursue things that are true and he’ll do it in a fair and balanced way," Rubio said.

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