Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) on Sunday pushed back against Republican claims that a recently declassified memo shows bias within the Justice Department, saying “of course it does not” vindicate President Trump in the investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election. 

“The fact that the Republicans in the House refuse to allow a minority report, the Democratic response to their memo, is an indication that they’re just bound and determined to continue to find ways to absolve this president from any responsibility,” Durbin said on CNN’s “State of the Union.”

The four-page memo, released Friday, accuses senior Justice Department officials of improperly using information from the “Steele dossier” — which originated as an opposition research document during the 2016 campaign — to obtain surveillance warrants on Carter Page, a member of the Trump transition team and former Trump campaign adviser. 

{mosads}Republicans and Trump have pointed to the memo as proof the Justice Department’s investigation into Russian meddling in the 2016 election is biased against the president. Trump tweeted Saturday morning that the document “totally vindicates” him. 

Democrats and some Republicans, however, have blasted the memo as a collection of cherry-picked claims that seek to undermine the FBI.

Durbin on Sunday said he worried the memo could be used as a pretext for Trump to fire Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein or special counsel Robert Mueller. He accused House Republicans of pushing for the memo’s release in an effort to end the Russia investigation, despite concerns from the FBI and Justice Department.

“If House Republicans believe they’ve set the stage for the president to end this investigation, they’re basically saying that one man is above the law,” Durbin said.

“No one, including the president, is above the law,” he added.