Special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into the Russian interference in the 2016 presidential elections is moving closer to the White House. In response, panic-stricken Republicans have launched an intense attack on Mueller, in a clear effort to discredit the investigation.

A half-dozen GOP lawmakers held a press conference on Wednesday to demand an investigation into Mueller’s team. Also on Wednesday, a conservative watchdog group filed a lawsuit to pry loose information about special counsel investigators, a day after it blasted out emails obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request that the group claimed indicated prosecutorial bias.

Conservative media amplified the growing calls for Mueller to be fired, with Fox News going wall-to-wall with demands that the probe be shut down.

At a Wednesday press conference, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) said that Republicans intend to investigate the “unprecedented bias against President Trump that exists when we allow people who hate the president to participate in the investigations against him.”

“A witch hunt continues against the president with tremendous bias, no purpose and no end in sight,” Gaetz said, according to The Hill.

The effort on the right to cast doubt on the special counsel is finding broad support among conservatives. Aside from some angry tweets from President Trump, though, the White House has mostly steered clear of political attacks on Mueller.

While there is growing alarm among conservatives at the scope of Mueller’s probe, some of Trump’s allies believe it is the best move for the White House to remain quiet on the matter for now.

Mueller still enjoys a sterling reputation in Washington, and GOP leaders on Capitol Hill have urged for him to have the space he needs to complete the investigation.

“I have a lot of respect for Robert Mueller,” said Chris Ruddy, a Trump friend, said of the former FBI director according to The Hill. “He’s a hero for what he did at the FBI after 9/11. We did not have one serious terror attack during his long tenure at the Bureau.” ShareTweet