Republican congressional members say their meeting with former Trump campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos, backs up their belief that partisan bias has affected investigations at the Justice Department.

"These facts continue to lend themselves to the narrative that there were folks in the Obama FBI and Justice Department that prejudged Hillary Clinton's innocence, and prejudged Donald Trump's guilt or involvement with the Russian government and potential collusion," said Republican Rep. John Ratcliffe.

Ratcliffe was one of a few lawmakers who attended an interview on Thursday with George Papadopoulos on Capitol Hill. Congress is currently on recess in the weeks before the November election. Republican and Democratic staffers were also in the room.

Papadopoulos, who triggered the Russia investigation, made his first appearance Thursday before congressional investigators.

Papadopoulos was sentenced in September to two weeks in prison as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe, was meeting in closed session with two GOP-led House committees. It is one of several interviews the GOP-led House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform panels are conducting as part of their investigation into partisan bias at the Justice Department.

Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian intermediaries during the 2016 campaign. Since he was sentenced, he has been eager to talk publicly. He has spent many nights on Twitter, along with his wife, venting anger with the FBI and implying that he was set up in the investigation.

Papadopoulos, who served as a foreign policy adviser to Trump's campaign, has been a central figure in the Russia investigation dating back before Mueller's May 2017 appointment. He was the first person to plead guilty in Mueller's probe and the first Trump campaign adviser to be sentenced. His case was also the first to detail a member of the Trump campaign having knowledge of Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election while it was ongoing.

According to a sweeping indictment, Russian intelligence had stolen emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign and other Democratic groups by April 2016, the same month Papadopoulos was told by the professor, Joseph Mifsud, that Russian officials had told him they had "dirt" on Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails." According to a New York Times report last year, Papadopoulos then told the Australian diplomat, Alexander Downer, who tipped off the FBI.

Democrats have said the GOP investigation is an attempt to discredit Mueller's investigation.

Washington - 25 October 2018

1. Various of George Papadopoulos entering meeting with Congressional investigators

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. John Ratcliffe, (R) Texas:

"Justice is a blindfolded lady holding a set of scales. No one's finger is supposed to be on the scales and these facts continue to lend themselves to the narrative that there were folks in the Obama FBI and Justice Department that prejudged Hillary Clinton's innocence, and prejudged Donald Trump's guilt or involvement with the Russian government and potential collusion."

++SOTS SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAMES++

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Mark Meadows, (R) North Carolina:

"The facts that we are finding in here are astounding that we would allow this type of investigation to be embarked upon without any real solid foundation of collusion."

5. Meadows walks away

Republican congressional members say their meeting with former Trump campaign adviser, George Papadopoulos, backs up their belief that partisan bias has affected investigations at the Justice Department.

"These facts continue to lend themselves to the narrative that there were folks in the Obama FBI and Justice Department that prejudged Hillary Clinton's innocence, and prejudged Donald Trump's guilt or involvement with the Russian government and potential collusion," said Republican Rep. John Ratcliffe.

Ratcliffe was one of a few lawmakers who attended an interview on Thursday with George Papadopoulos on Capitol Hill. Congress is currently on recess in the weeks before the November election. Republican and Democratic staffers were also in the room.

Papadopoulos, who triggered the Russia investigation, made his first appearance Thursday before congressional investigators.

Papadopoulos was sentenced in September to two weeks in prison as part of special counsel Robert Mueller's probe, was meeting in closed session with two GOP-led House committees. It is one of several interviews the GOP-led House Judiciary and Oversight and Government Reform panels are conducting as part of their investigation into partisan bias at the Justice Department.

Papadopoulos pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian intermediaries during the 2016 campaign. Since he was sentenced, he has been eager to talk publicly. He has spent many nights on Twitter, along with his wife, venting anger with the FBI and implying that he was set up in the investigation.

Papadopoulos, who served as a foreign policy adviser to Trump's campaign, has been a central figure in the Russia investigation dating back before Mueller's May 2017 appointment. He was the first person to plead guilty in Mueller's probe and the first Trump campaign adviser to be sentenced. His case was also the first to detail a member of the Trump campaign having knowledge of Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election while it was ongoing.

According to a sweeping indictment, Russian intelligence had stolen emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign and other Democratic groups by April 2016, the same month Papadopoulos was told by the professor, Joseph Mifsud, that Russian officials had told him they had "dirt" on Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails." According to a New York Times report last year, Papadopoulos then told the Australian diplomat, Alexander Downer, who tipped off the FBI.

Democrats have said the GOP investigation is an attempt to discredit Mueller's investigation.

Washington DC - 25 October 2018

1. Various of George Papadopoulos entering meeting with Congressional investigators

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. John Ratcliffe, (R) Texas:

"Justice is a blindfolded lady holding a set of scales. No one's finger is supposed to be on the scales and these facts continue to lend themselves to the narrative that there were folks in the Obama FBI and Justice Department that prejudged Hillary Clinton's innocence, and prejudged Donald Trump's guilt or involvement with the Russian government and potential collusion."

++SOTS SEPARATED BY BLACK FRAMES++

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Mark Meadows, (R) North Carolina:

"The facts that we are finding in here are astounding that we would allow this type of investigation to be embarked upon without any real solid foundation of collusion."

5. Meadows walks away

An FBI agent who worked on separate investigations into Democrat Hillary Clinton and President Donald Trump's campaign testified behind closed doors to two House committees Wednesday as GOP lawmakers stepped up efforts to highlight what they say is bias at the Justice Department.

Peter Strzok exchanged anti-Trump texts with a colleague, FBI attorney Lisa Page, as both worked on the Clinton investigation and briefly on special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into ties between Trump's campaign and Russia. House Republicans have seized on the texts as part of investigations into the Justice Department, the FBI and decisions that both made during the 2016 presidential election.

In one of the texts, from August 2016, Strzok wrote, "We'll stop it," in reference to a potential Trump election win.

Mark Meadows, one of the most vocal critics of the Justice Department, said as he walked into the interview that he had several questions about the beginning of the Russia investigation in 2016 and informants used to question Trump campaign staff.

"Ultimately you cannot have bias within the FBI and DOJ and expect justice to be meted out equally," Meadows said.

The barrage of GOP criticism against the Justice Department comes just a few months before the midterm elections, and amid intense sparring between the parties over the FBI's role in the Russia probe. The House could vote as soon as Thursday on a resolution demanding the department hand over thousands of documents that Congress has requested by July 6. The resolution was approved by the House Judiciary Committee.

Washington - 27 June 2018

1. FBI Agent Peter Strzok walks through Rayburn House office building

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Mark Meadows, (R) North Carolina:

"Well, I think that we should have actually been a little bit more deliberate bringing him here. We've had to collect documents. One of the problems is we're still getting documents from DOJ (Department of Justice) that really are a predicate to this interview. We have documents that we've requested from DOJ that they continue to hold onto, that they will not give us. You know that we got text messages the day of the IG (Inspector General) hearing. Now it's time for DOJ and FBI to be transparent. But it's also time for the American people to see the truth. Hopefully, they will be able to do that. We'll have hours of interviews today to get to the bottom line. But, ultimately, you cannot have bias within the FBI and DOJ and expect justice to be meted out equally. And so hopefully we'll rid the FBI of any inherent bias."

3. Various of meadows speaking with reporters

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Mark Meadows, (R) North Carolina: (referring to texts between Strzok and Lisa Page)

"If you have intimate personal conversations between two people, that normally would show the intent more so than perhaps something that would be said out in public."

5. Reporter asking Meadows question

STORYLINE:

An FBI agent who worked on separate investigations into Democrat Hillary Clinton and President Donald Trump's campaign testified behind closed doors to two House committees Wednesday as GOP lawmakers stepped up efforts to highlight what they say is bias at the Justice Department.

Peter Strzok exchanged anti-Trump texts with a colleague, FBI attorney Lisa Page, as both worked on the Clinton investigation and briefly on special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into ties between Trump's campaign and Russia. House Republicans have seized on the texts as part of investigations into the Justice Department, the FBI and decisions that both made during the 2016 presidential election.

In one of the texts, from August 2016, Strzok wrote, "We'll stop it," in reference to a potential Trump election win.

Mark Meadows, one of the most vocal critics of the Justice Department, said as he walked into the interview that he had several questions about the beginning of the Russia investigation in 2016 and informants used to question Trump campaign staff.

"Ultimately you cannot have bias within the FBI and DOJ and expect justice to be meted out equally," Meadows said.

The barrage of GOP criticism against the Justice Department comes just a few months before the midterm elections, and amid intense sparring between the parties over the FBI's role in the Russia probe. The House could vote as soon as Thursday on a resolution demanding the department hand over thousands of documents that Congress has requested by July 6. The resolution was approved by the House Judiciary Committee.

Washington DC - 27 June 2018

1. FBI Agent Peter Strzok walks through Rayburn House office building

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Mark Meadows, (R) North Carolina:

"Well, I think that we should have actually been a little bit more deliberate bringing him here. We've had to collect documents. One of the problems is we're still getting documents from DOJ (Department of Justice) that really are a predicate to this interview. We have documents that we've requested from DOJ that they continue to hold onto, that they will not give us. You know that we got text messages the day of the IG (Inspector General) hearing. Now it's time for DOJ and FBI to be transparent. But it's also time for the American people to see the truth. Hopefully, they will be able to do that. We'll have hours of interviews today to get to the bottom line. But, ultimately, you cannot have bias within the FBI and DOJ and expect justice to be meted out equally. And so hopefully we'll rid the FBI of any inherent bias."

3. Various of meadows speaking with reporters

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Mark Meadows, (R) North Carolina: (referring to texts between Strzok and Lisa Page)

"If you have intimate personal conversations between two people, that normally would show the intent more so than perhaps something that would be said out in public."

5. Reporter asking Meadows question

An FBI agent who worked on separate investigations into Democrat Hillary Clinton and President Donald Trump's campaign testified behind closed doors to two House committees Wednesday as GOP lawmakers stepped up efforts to highlight what they say is bias at the Justice Department.

Peter Strzok exchanged anti-Trump texts with a colleague, FBI attorney Lisa Page, as both worked on the Clinton investigation and briefly on special counsel Robert Mueller's investigation into ties between Trump's campaign and Russia. House Republicans have seized on the texts as part of investigations into the Justice Department, the FBI and decisions that both made during the 2016 presidential election.

In one of the texts, from August 2016, Strzok wrote, "We'll stop it," in reference to a potential Trump election win.

Mark Meadows, one of the most vocal critics of the Justice Department, said as he walked into the interview that he had several questions about the beginning of the Russia investigation in 2016 and informants used to question Trump campaign staff.

"Ultimately you cannot have bias within the FBI and DOJ and expect justice to be meted out equally," Meadows said.

The barrage of GOP criticism against the Justice Department comes just a few months before the midterm elections, and amid intense sparring between the parties over the FBI's role in the Russia probe. The House could vote as soon as Thursday on a resolution demanding the department hand over thousands of documents that Congress has requested by July 6. The resolution was approved by the House Judiciary Committee.

Washington - 27 June 2018

1. FBI Agent Peter Strzok walks through Rayburn House office building

2. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Mark Meadows, (R) North Carolina:

"Well, I think that we should have actually been a little bit more deliberate bringing him here. We've had to collect documents. One of the problems is we're still getting documents from DOJ (Department of Justice) that really are a predicate to this interview. We have documents that we've requested from DOJ that they continue to hold onto, that they will not give us. You know that we got text messages the day of the IG (Inspector General) hearing. Now it's time for DOJ and FBI to be transparent. But it's also time for the American people to see the truth. Hopefully, they will be able to do that. We'll have hours of interviews today to get to the bottom line. But, ultimately, you cannot have bias within the FBI and DOJ and expect justice to be meted out equally. And so hopefully we'll rid the FBI of any inherent bias."

3. Various of meadows speaking with reporters

4. SOUNDBITE: (English) Rep. Mark Meadows, (R) North Carolina: (referring to texts between Strzok and Lisa Page)

"If you have intimate personal conversations between two people, that normally would show the intent more so than perhaps something that would be said out in public."

5. Reporter asking Meadows question

George Papadopoulos, the former Trump campaign adviser who triggered the Russia investigation, is making his first appearance before congressional investigators.

Special counsel Robert Mueller charged Papadopoulos with lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian intermediaries. He was sentenced in September to two weeks in prison. Papadopoulos will speak behind closed doors to two GOP-led House committees that are investigating partisan bias at the Justice Department.

Since he was sentenced to two weeks in prison, Papadopoulos has been eager to talk publicly. He has spent many nights on Twitter, along with his wife, venting anger with the FBI and implying that he was set up in the investigation. He has said on Twitter that he would like to talk to Congress about his "suspicious encounters" with an Australian diplomat and a professor who were links to his case. And his lawyer sent a letter to the committees this week in which he listed nine people he wants to discuss in the interview, including both of those men.

Papadopoulos, who served as a foreign policy adviser to Trump's campaign, has been a central figure in the Russia investigation dating back before Mueller's May 2017 appointment. He was the first to plead guilty in Mueller's probe and the first Trump campaign adviser to be sentenced. His case was also the first to detail a member of the Trump campaign having knowledge of Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election while it was ongoing.

According to a sweeping indictment, Russian intelligence had stolen emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign and other Democratic groups by April 2016, the same month Papadopoulos was told by the professor, Joseph Mifsud, that Russian officials had told him they had "dirt" on Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails." According to a New York Times report last year, Papadopoulos then told the Australian diplomat, Alexander Downer, who tipped off the FBI.

With Congress in recess, less than a handful of members are in attendance at the meet, including Republican Rep. Mark Meadows.

I'm looking forward to him sharing what he said, what he didn't say and I think what we'll find is that this was not someone who was colluding with Russia, quite the opposite," said Rep. Meadows.

A House intelligence committee investigation wrapped up earlier this year, with Republicans saying that there was no evidence of collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump's campaign.

Washington - 25 October 2018

1. George Papadopoulos walking through Rayburn House office building

2. Rep. Mark Meadows, (R) North Carolina:

George Papadopoulos was the reason why this whole Russia investigation was open, that was a predicate for the FBI. Hopefully, we'll learn today exactly what was said, what was not said. But, candidly, I think it's a day for George Papadopoulos to tell his story. We've heard everyone else's story. I'm looking forward to him sharing what he said, what he didn't say and I think what we'll find is that this was not someone who was colluding with Russia, quite the opposite."

3. Various of Papadopoulos

George Papadopoulos, the former Trump campaign adviser who triggered the Russia investigation, is making his first appearance before congressional investigators.

Special counsel Robert Mueller charged Papadopoulos with lying to the FBI about his contacts with Russian intermediaries. He was sentenced in September to two weeks in prison. Papadopoulos will speak behind closed doors to two GOP-led House committees that are investigating partisan bias at the Justice Department.

Since he was sentenced to two weeks in prison, Papadopoulos has been eager to talk publicly. He has spent many nights on Twitter, along with his wife, venting anger with the FBI and implying that he was set up in the investigation. He has said on Twitter that he would like to talk to Congress about his "suspicious encounters" with an Australian diplomat and a professor who were links to his case. And his lawyer sent a letter to the committees this week in which he listed nine people he wants to discuss in the interview, including both of those men.

Papadopoulos, who served as a foreign policy adviser to Trump's campaign, has been a central figure in the Russia investigation dating back before Mueller's May 2017 appointment. He was the first to plead guilty in Mueller's probe and the first Trump campaign adviser to be sentenced. His case was also the first to detail a member of the Trump campaign having knowledge of Russian efforts to interfere in the 2016 presidential election while it was ongoing.

According to a sweeping indictment, Russian intelligence had stolen emails from Hillary Clinton's campaign and other Democratic groups by April 2016, the same month Papadopoulos was told by the professor, Joseph Mifsud, that Russian officials had told him they had "dirt" on Clinton in the form of "thousands of emails." According to a New York Times report last year, Papadopoulos then told the Australian diplomat, Alexander Downer, who tipped off the FBI.

With Congress in recess, less than a handful of members are in attendance at the meet, including Republican Rep. Mark Meadows.

I'm looking forward to him sharing what he said, what he didn't say and I think what we'll find is that this was not someone who was colluding with Russia, quite the opposite," said Rep. Meadows.

A House intelligence committee investigation wrapped up earlier this year, with Republicans saying that there was no evidence of collusion between Russia and President Donald Trump's campaign.

Washington - 25 October 2018

1. George Papadopoulos walking through Rayburn House office building

2. Rep. Mark Meadows, (R) North Carolina:

George Papadopoulos was the reason why this whole Russia investigation was open, that was a predicate for the FBI. Hopefully, we'll learn today exactly what was said, what was not said. But, candidly, I think it's a day for George Papadopoulos to tell his story. We've heard everyone else's story. I'm looking forward to him sharing what he said, what he didn't say and I think what we'll find is that this was not someone who was colluding with Russia, quite the opposite."

3. Various of Papadopoulos