WASHINGTON House Republicans spent the end of the workweek telling everyone who would listen that the American people must be allowed to see a top-secret four-page document that could bring an end to special counsel Robert Muellers investigation into Russian interference with the 2016 elections.

One thing about that document: Republican staffers wrote it.

The memo Republican staffers compiled reveals information that is absolutely shocking, sickening, jaw-dropping and worse than Watergate, GOP members of Congress said Thursday and Friday. The document could send government officials to jail, one congressman said. Is this happening in America or is this the KGB? asked another.

Even the most plugged-in news consumer could be forgiven for thinking the classified memo is an executive branch document that exposes wrongdoing within the Justice Department and the FBI . It isnt.