In this May 10, 2018 photo, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., meets with reporters during his weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Ryan is agreeing with another senior House Republican... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this May 10, 2018 photo, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., meets with reporters during his weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Ryan is agreeing with another senior House Republican who says there’s no evidence that the FBI planted a "spy" on President Donald Trump's 2016... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this May 10, 2018 photo, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., meets with reporters during his weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Ryan is agreeing with another senior House Republican who says there’s no evidence that the FBI planted a "spy" on President Donald Trump's 2016... (Associated Press) In this May 10, 2018 photo, Speaker of the House Paul Ryan, R-Wis., meets with reporters during his weekly news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Ryan is agreeing with another senior House Republican... (Associated Press) 
 
 WASHINGTON (AP) — House Speaker Paul Ryan is agreeing with another senior House Republican who says there's no evidence that the FBI planted a "spy" in Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaign in an effort to hurt his chances at the polls. 
 
 The comments contradict Trump, who has insisted the agency planted a spy "to help Crooked Hillary win." 
 
 Both Ryan and House Oversight and Government Reform Chairman Trey Gowdy attended a classified briefing last month following reports that the FBI used an informant in its Russian election meddling investigation to speak to members of the Trump campaign who had possible connections to Russia. Gowdy said afterward that the FBI was doing its duty. 
 
 "I am even more convinced that the FBI did exactly what my fellow citizens would want them to do when they got the information they got," Gowdy, R-S.C., said on Fox News last week. "And that it has nothing to do with Donald Trump." 
 
 Gowdy added, in a separate interview on CBS, that such informants are used all the time and "the FBI, if they were at the table this morning, they would tell you that Russia was the target and Russia's intentions toward our country were the target." 
 
 Ryan, R-Wisc., told reporters on Wednesday that he thinks Gowdy's "initial assessment is accurate," and he has seen "no evidence to the contrary" of what Gowdy said. 
 
 On Trump's orders, the Department of Justice conducted two briefings for a handful of members of Congress after House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes, R-Calif., had asked for documents concerning the informant. Trump repeatedly tweeted about the issue, asserting there was a spy and that it was "starting to look like one of the biggest political scandals in U.S. history." 
 
 Ryan said Congress has more digging to do and that he wished they had gotten the information earlier. 
 
 "We have some more documents to review, we still have some unanswered questions," Ryan said. 
 
 Ryan also responded to a question about Trump's recent assertion that he has an "absolute right" to pardon himself if it were necessary — which he says it wouldn't be, because "I have done nothing wrong." 
 
 "I don't know the technical answer to that question, but obviously the answer is he shouldn't because no one is above the law," Ryan said. 
 
 ___ 
 
 Associated Press writer Andrew Taylor contributed to this report. ||||| By Amanda Becker and Richard Cowan 
 
 WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan said on Wednesday that President Donald Trump should not pardon himself, becoming the second Republican leader in Congress to balk at the president's assertion that he had "absolute" power to do so. 
 
 Ryan also dismissed another of Trump's contentions - that the FBI and Justice Department planted an informant in his 2016 presidential campaign. He said he agreed with the assertion by U.S. Representative Trey Gowdy, the Republican chairman of the House Oversight Committee, that federal authorities had acted properly. 
 
 "I think Chairman Gowdy's initial assessment is accurate, but we have more digging to do," Ryan said. 
 
 Ryan, who is not seeking re-election, had a strained relationship with Trump during the campaign but has avoided taking a confrontational approach with him since he took office. 
 
 Asked whether Trump can legally pardon himself, Ryan told reporters at the U.S. Capitol: "I don't know the technical answer to that question but obviously he shouldn't. No one is above the law." 
 
 Trump made the pardon assertion in a series of Twitter posts on Monday in which he criticized federal Special Counsel Robert Mueller's criminal probe of whether his 2016 presidential campaign colluded with Russia to sway the election. 
 
 Video: Trump Declares ‘Absolute Right’ to Pardon Himself 
 
 For more news videos visit Yahoo View. 
 
 "As has been stated by numerous legal scholars, I have the absolute right to PARDON myself, but why would I do that when I have done nothing wrong?" Trump said. 
 
 In another tweet he called Mueller’s appointment “totally UNCONSTITUTIONAL.” 
 
 The comments came as Mueller’s investigation, which includes possible illegal obstruction of the Russia probe by the president, entered its second year. 
 
 Trump denies he colluded with the Russians or obstructed justice and calls Mueller's investigation a "witch hunt." 
 
 On Tuesday, the Senate's Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, also discouraged talk of a self-pardon by Trump. 
 
 "Let me just tell you that from - from my perspective - I don't think the president needs any advice on pardoning himself," McConnell said. "He obviously knows that would not be something that he would or should do." 
 
 Trump's suggestion that he could legally pardon himself followed a New York Times report on Saturday that his personal lawyers argued in a memo to Mueller that the president could not have obstructed justice because he has vast authority over all federal investigations. 
 
 In an interview with Reuters on Sunday, Trump lawyer Rudolph Giuliani played down the possibility of a Trump self-pardon. 
 
 "He’s not going to do it. He’s not going to pardon himself. If he did, he’d be impeached so fast," Giuliani said. 
 
 (Reporting by Richard Cowan, Amanda Becker, Susan Cornwell, Karen Freifeld; Writing by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama and Dan Grebler)
– House Speaker Paul Ryan is agreeing with another senior House Republican who says there's no evidence that the FBI planted a "spy" in Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. The comments contradict the president, who has insisted the agency planted a "spy for political reasons and to help Crooked Hillary win." Both Ryan and House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Trey Gowdy attended a classified briefing last month following reports that the FBI used an informant in its Russian meddling probe to speak to members of the Trump campaign who had possible connections to Russia. Gowdy said afterward he was convinced that "the FBI did exactly what my fellow citizens would want them to do" and he didn't see evidence of a spy. Ryan told reporters Wednesday he believes Gowdy's "initial assessment is accurate" and he's seen no evidence to the contrary, the AP reports. But Ryan added that Congress has more digging to do and that he wished they had gotten the information earlier. "We have some more documents to review, we still have some unanswered questions," Ryan said. Ryan also responded to a question about Trump's recent assertion that he has an "absolute right" to pardon himself if it were necessary—which he says it wouldn't be, because "I have done nothing wrong." "I don't know the technical answer to that question, but obviously the answer is he shouldn't because no one is above the law," Ryan said. Mitch McConnell made similar remarks Tuesday, Reuters reports. "Let me just tell you that from—from my perspective—I don't think the president needs any advice on pardoning himself," the Senate majority leader said. "He obviously knows that would not be something that he would or should do."