READ IT: Jeff Sessions declines to appoint a second special counsel to investigate alleged FBI surveillance abuses

Attorney General Jeff Sessions on Thursday responded to a letter from top Congressional Republicans officially requesting a second special counsel to investigate the FBI and potential FISA abuses during the 2016 presidential election, effectively declining to open a separate probe per the leaders’ request.

In a letter sent to Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-IA), Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) and Rep. Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), Sessions noted the Office of the Inspector General is “investigating alleged violations of criminal civil laws by Department employees.”

Read the full letter here.