Republican New York Congressman Mike Lawler spoke on CNN on Sunday about how the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) are going to pursue Kash Patel after guest host Casey Hunt asked if he intended to go after “political opponents.” He accused them of being used as political weapons.
President-elect Donald Trump announced Saturday that he would select Patel to lead the FBI, saying in a statement that the former Trump administration official plans to lead the FBI into a new era. On “State of the Union,” Hunt pointed out that Patel had a “list” of names in her book and said that Patel was allegedly planning to “go after” Trump's political opponents. He asked Republican lawmakers whether they had any “reservations.”
“I don't think the American public is interested in revenge trips, but if they've done something wrong in a public capacity, that's obviously a concern. But if they've done nothing wrong, Otherwise, if they were following the law, there shouldn't be a problem,'' Lawler said. “The objective here is clearly to reform the Justice Department and the FBI and return them to their mission of going after criminals.”
“Obviously in recent years we've seen the FBI and the Department of Justice become completely politicized and weaponized. That's not good for the American people. That's not good for our justice system. The lack of trust that Americans have in the Department of Justice and the FBI is therefore clear. We want a reformed system that works for the American people and prosecutes criminals, and that should be the aim and goal of every American. That's clearly my hope as the FBI moves forward under Bondi and under Kash Patel.”
Hunt continued to push back against Lawler, asking whether Patel was the best person to achieve the goal of “partisan neutrality” under the second Trump administration. The guest host also highlighted that President Trump's new nominee will replace FBI Director Christopher Wray, who was appointed by the former president during his first administration. (Related article: 'Totally corrupt': Republican senator slams Biden officials as 'grossly inexperienced' while supporting Trump's FBI nomination)
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“That's right, and Christopher Wray's FBI went to investigate Donald Trump. Those charges were subsequently dropped by the special counsel,” Lawler replied. “But again, Casey, these issues are being litigated in this election that we just had. Donald Trump has been talking about this for two years, so why is anyone surprised? I don't know. Americans voted overwhelmingly for Donald Trump even though he campaigned on these issues.”
“I'm not concerned about partisanship here. I think we've seen weaponized Justice Departments and FBIs. Look at New York State Attorney General Letitia James. She's literally a Donald Trump “I didn't see many people in the media who campaigned to prosecute Trump. The fact is, our judicial system needs to be depoliticized.” said. “Unfortunately, we've seen it weaponized under the Biden administration, and that's wrong.”
President Trump has long called for an investigation into the FBI, accusing it of being led by corrupt officials working against him. During the 2023 Republican presidential primary, the former president said he planned to fire Wray, along with all Republican candidates except former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie.
President Trump said this in March. campaign video He claimed his second administration would “completely overhaul” government agencies by ending “weaponized” departments and “firing all corrupt officials in the national security and intelligence community.” .
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