Sen. Mazie Hirono Mazie Keiko HironoManchin defends Supreme Court candidate Barrett: 'It's awful to bring in religion' Democrats shoot down talk of expanding Supreme Court Democrats unveil plan declaring racism a public health issue MORE (D-Hawaii) in a tweet on Sunday said the attacks on special counsel Robert Mueller's probe into Russia's election meddling brought to mind the "Red Scare" of the 1950s, saying the criticisms "invoke shades of creeping McCarthyism."

"Attacks from Trump allies & the far right on the special counsel's investigation & integrity invoke shades of creeping McCarthyism. We will continue to fight to allow Mueller's independent investigation to continue," Hirono said.

Attacks from Trump allies & the far right on the special counsel's investigation & integrity invoke shades of creeping McCarthyism. We will continue to fight to allow Mueller's independent investigation to continue. — Senator Mazie Hirono (@maziehirono) December 17, 2017

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Her comments come as Republicans have pounced on Mueller's investigation, claiming it could have an anti-Trump bias.

Text messages surfaced last week showing FBI agent Peter Strzok and colleague Lisa Page criticizing Trump during the campaign.

Strzok, who was dismissed from Mueller's team earlier this year, had said Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) was "an idiot like Trump," while Page called Trump "a loathsome human."

"God, Hillary should win 100,000,000-0," Strzok said in another message to Page.

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There is nothing in the FBI guidelines that would prevent agents from having or expressing a political opinion in a private setting.

However, Republicans have called for an investigation into the matter.

House Intelligence Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy Harold (Trey) Watson GowdySunday shows preview: Election integrity dominates as Nov. 3 nears Tim Scott invokes Breonna Taylor, George Floyd in Trump convention speech Sunday shows preview: Republicans gear up for national convention, USPS debate continues in Washington MORE (R-S.C.) said on Sunday that the courts are responsible for handling complaints against Mueller.