The top Democrats on the House Judiciary and Oversight committees are asking the Justice Department to turn over documents they say could be "evidence" that the FBI showed "political bias or personal animus" toward former Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton during the 2016 election.

Reps. Elijah Cummings Elijah Eugene CummingsBlack GOP candidate accuses Behar of wearing black face in heated interview Overnight Health Care: US won't join global coronavirus vaccine initiative | Federal panel lays out initial priorities for COVID-19 vaccine distribution | NIH panel: 'Insufficient data' to show treatment touted by Trump works House Oversight Democrats to subpoena AbbVie in drug pricing probe MORE (D-Md.) and Jerrold Nadler (N.Y.), the ranking members of the House Oversight and Government Reform and Judiciary Committees, respectively, called on two top Justice Department officials on Monday to share information about possible leaks from the FBI to True Pundit, a conservative website, during the bureau's investigation into Clinton's use of a private email server as secretary of State.

ADVERTISEMENT

“Our committees are now engaged in an investigation of allegations of politically-motivated misconduct at the FBI," the Democrats wrote in a letter to Attorney General Jeff Sessions Jefferson (Jeff) Beauregard SessionsGOP set to release controversial Biden report Trump's policies on refugees are as simple as ABCs Ocasio-Cortez, Velázquez call for convention to decide Puerto Rico status MORE and Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein.

“The facts point to a coordinated effort by some in the FBI to change the course of the Clinton investigation by leaking sensitive information to the public, and by threatening to leak additional information after the investigation was closed," they continued, while asking for information about “politically-motivated misconduct."

The two Democrats asked whether True Pundit's reporting, which cited sources within the government, influenced the FBI’s decision to reopen the email probe shortly before the election.

The site, which they described as a “fringe conspiracy website," said the bureau did not charge Clinton because of a political bias that favored her. Nadler and Cummings, however, wanted to see if the FBI's potential ties to True Pundit could reveal an anti-Clinton bias within the FBI.

They also requested information about the knowledge former Trump campaign aides like Michael Flynn or other Trump allies might have had about the email probe.

In the letter, lawmakers also issued a rebuke to Sessions and Rosenstein. They said they are "disappointed" that nation's two top attorneys failed to include them when they shared thousands of documents with the Republican chairmen on the Oversight and Government Reform and Judiciary Committees.

Their letter comes shortly before Rosenstein is expected to appear before the Judiciary Committee.

The request appears to flip the charges made by Republicans, who have expressed concern that there is a political bias against President Trump Donald John TrumpOmar fires back at Trump over rally remarks: 'This is my country' Pelosi: Trump hurrying to fill SCOTUS seat so he can repeal ObamaCare Trump mocks Biden appearance, mask use ahead of first debate MORE at the FBI as well as among investigators serving on special counsel Robert Mueller’s team.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Bob Goodlatte (R-Va.) and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy (R-S.C.) announced in October a joint investigation into how the FBI handled last year's probe into Clinton's emails.