UPDATE 1-Congress has no right to do-over of Russia probe - White House counsel

Congress has no right to conduct a do-over of Special Counsel Robert Mueller's Russia probe, the White House said in a letter blasting House Democrats' sweeping requests for documents as an effort to harass political opponents. The May 15 letter from White House counsel Pat Cipollone to House Judiciary Committee chair Jerrold Nadler, takes the view that the committee's probe serves no legitimate legislative purpose.

The letter was drafted in response to Nadler's March 4 request for documents from the White House for a congressional investigation of allegations of obstruction of justice, public corruption and other abuses of power. Cipollone asked the committee to narrow its "sweeping" requests and said many documents would be entitled to be withheld under executive privilege. (Reporting by Karen Freifeld Editing by Susan Thomas and James Dalgleish)