Republican senators subpoena Donald Trump's enemy list including James Comey and the FBI lovers over probe into Russian probe - after refusing to summon Bill Barr to testify on St John's photo-op

Senate Republicans on Thursday approved subpoenas for a slew of Barack Obama-era officials as part of their look into the origins of the Russia investigation.

On a party-line vote, the Senate Judiciary Committee approved subpoenas for former FBI Director James Comey, former acting FBI director Andrew McCabe, former CIA Director John Brennan, and former Director of National Intelligence James Clapper. 

The mass subpoena list, which includes around 50 names, also includes Lisa Page and Peter Strzok, the FBI officials who worked on the counterintelligence investigation into President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign. 

President Trump has long pushed for the probe by members of his party and has constantly railed against the 'witch hunt,' which is what he called the investigation into Russia's role in the 2016 election.

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Senator Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator who is a close ally of Trump's and facing his own re-election campaign this year, is leading the probe into origins of Russia investigation

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President Donald Trump has long pushed for his party to start the probe

The mass subpoena list, which includes around 50 names, also includes former FBI director James Comey and former FBI officials Lisa Page and Peter Strzok

Now Republicans have ramped up their efforts to investigate the president's political foes during an election year.

Senator Lindsey Graham, the Republican senator who is a close ally of Trump's and facing his own re-election campaign this year, is heading the effort. 

'I assure you, we're not going to be deterred,' Graham said of the probe. 

He has resisted pressure from President Trump to call Barack Obama before the panel and there is no mention of the former president in the subpoena authorizations. 

In a 12-10 party-line vote, Republicans gave Graham broad power to subpoena the Obama era officials. 

Page and Strzok were having an affair and exchanged text messages expressing their concern about Trump winning the White House, messages the president used to claim there was a 'deep state' conspiracy working against him. The two are a perennial target of Trump's ire. 

Trump has also expressed his fury at Comey, whom he refers to as a 'dirty cop.' 

Graham was also given the power to look into the documents that went into compiling the infamous Christopher Steele dossier, which claimed Russians had blackmail material on Trump. The president has denied this.

And Graham can also examine documents and records referenced in Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz's review of Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) warrant applications related to former Trump campaign aide Carter Page. 

The Republican senator from South Carolina has denied any political motives or pressure from Trump.

He's said he wants to release his findings by October, which would have the issue in the headlines shortly before the election.

Republican Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin is conducting a similar investigation in the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, which he chairs.

During Thursday's Judiciary committee hearing, Democrats pushed for a slew of their own subpoenas, each voted down one-by-one along partisan lines.

'We're not going to hold the Mueller investigation all over again,' Graham said in urging his GOP colleagues to vote against the Democratic demands. He said special counsel Robert Mueller conducted a thorough investigation and now was the time to look into how the probe got started.

The committee also rejected, on a party line vote, a motion by Democratic Senator Kamala Harris to subpoena Attorney General Bill Barr for his role in using law enforcement officers, chemical agents and rubber bullets to clear Lafayette Square of peaceful protesters so President Trump could walk to St. John's church for a photo-op.

The committee rejected Democratic efforts to subpoena White House senior adviser Jared Kushner; former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort; former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani; Konstantin Kilimnik, who received internal Trump campaign polling info from Manafort; former Trump personal attorney Michael Cohen; former Trump campaign aide George Papadopoulos; former National Security Adviser Michael Flynn; Roger Stone; and Jerome Corsi, who had communications with Stone. 

'I don't understand how we can do an investigation if you're not going to be able to get all the evidence,' said Senator Dianne Feinstein, the Democratic leader on the committee.

Comey, as FBI director, authorized Operation Crossfire Hurricane, which was the agency's counterintelligence investigation into whether Trump's 2016 campaign colluded with Russian officials trying to interfere in the president election.

It was a joint investigation by the FBI, the CIA and the National Security Agency.

It was sparked by information that George Papadopoulos, an adviser to Trump's campaign, claimed the Russians had damaging material on Hillary Clinton.

It was eventually taken over by Special Counsel Robert Mueller, whose investigation cleared the Trump campaign of any collusion but came to no conclusion as to whether President Trump tried to hamper the special counsel's probe.