House Speaker Paul Ryan said Sunday that special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation will "take its course." | Getty Images Ryan pledges Congress won't 'interfere' with Mueller Russia probe

House Speaker Paul Ryan vowed Sunday that Congress would not interfere with special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election, a probe that has intensified with recent indictments of Trump campaign officials.

Asked during an appearance on "Fox News Sunday" whether he would pledge not to allow Mueller's team to be stopped or curbed, Ryan said he would.


"We're not going to interfere with his investigation. The investigation will take its course, and we will let it take its course," the GOP leader said.

Ryan (R-Wis.) also said he believed that President Donald Trump would uphold his repeated pledge not to dismiss Mueller.

Despite Ryan's vow, three House Republicans on Friday increased the pressure on Mueller to resign over what they called "obvious conflicts of interest," introducing a nonbinding measure that would characterize Mueller on the House record as unfit to lead the probe. They said it was due to his relationship with former FBI Director James Comey, who succeeded Mueller atop the bureau and was later dismissed by Trump.

Congressional leaders, including Ryan, though, have previously called for Mueller's probe to continue undeterred. "My view on that is let Bob Mueller do his job, let the professionals do their jobs,” Ryan said last week during an appearance on CNN.

Russian election meddling is also being investigated by House and Senate panels.

The White House has maintained that it has no intention to get in the way of Mueller's investigation, even after it was revealed Monday that former Trump campaign chairman Paul Manafort and campaign official Rick Gates had been indicted on 12 charges unrelated to their campaign work. George Papadopoulos, a Trump campaign foreign policy adviser, pleaded guilty to charges including lying to federal prosecutors regarding the Russia probe, court documents revealed Monday.

"The president said last week ... there’s no intention or plan to make any changes in regard to the special counsel," White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said during a press briefing Monday.