GOP lawmaker compares Russia investigation to birtherism

Rep. Tom GarrettThomas (Tom) Alexander GarrettFierce battle erupts over releasing intelligence report The Senate must act on the House-passed appropriations bills GOP lawmaker says he got ‘credible’ death threats before town hall MORE (R-Va.) on Monday compared the investigation into ties between the Trump campaign and Russia during the 2016 election to “birtherism.”

Garrett, a member of both the House Homeland Security and Foreign Affairs committees, made the comments in an interview on CNN, saying the Russia probe is “essentially” the same as the "birther" conspiracy theory that claimed former President Obama was not born in the United States.

“Imagine that there was a partly political funded investigation into President Obama’s place of birth,” Garrett said during the interview. “This Russia investigation is essentially birtherism.”

CNN’s Brianna Keilar asked Garrett to clarify his comments, asking, “Do you think Russia didn’t meddle? Is that why you mean it’s birtherism?”

“Russia’s meddled in every since election since 1919, we know that," Garrett responded.

President TrumpDonald John TrumpSchiff: Nunes gave Trump 'secretly altered' version of memo Davis: ‘Deep state’ existed in ’16 – but it elected Trump Former Trump legal spokesman to testify to Mueller about undisclosed call: report MORE led the birther movement for years, pushing for the release of Obama’s birth certificate. It was reported late last year that Trump still privately questions the authenticity of the birth certificate, which Obama made public to shut down Trump's claims.

Fox News host Sean Hannity made comments similar to Garrett’s last June, defending Trump against the Russia investigation by comparing the probe to the birther conspiracy.

Trump has repeatedly called the Russia investigation a “hoax” and a “witch hunt."