The US House GOP leader has decried the “weaponized politicization” of law enforcement after the ex-president’s home was searched
US House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-California) and other Republican lawmakers have condemned President Joe Biden’s administration for raiding the Florida home of Donald Trump, warning that they will investigate politicization of the Department of Justice (DOJ) when they take back control of Congress.
“The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization,”McCarthy said on Monday night, hours after FBI agents executed a search warrant at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence. “When Republicans take back the House, we will conduct immediate oversight of this department, follow the facts, and leave no stone unturned. Attorney General [Merrick] Garland, preserve your documents and clear your calendar.”
“large group” of FBI agents raided the former president’s home and broke into his safe, Trump said on Monday. The search was reportedly related to a probe into Trump’s handling of classified documents. “Such an assault could only take place in broken, third-world countries,”He said. “Sadly, America has now become one of those countries – corrupt at a level not seen before.”
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Trump refers to the FBI shock raid as “political persecution”.
Republicans in Congress reacted furiously to the raid, and asked for explanations from Garland as well as FBI Director Chris Wray. “Why don’t Chris Wray and Merrick Garland come in front of us this Friday and answer our questions?” Representative Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) asked. “If this is so important to go after President Trump in this unprecedented way, come and answer our questions in the Judiciary Committee in the House of Representatives.”
Jordan suggested that Democrats had used intelligence- and law enforcement agencies in an effort to chase down their political opponents, which is what Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York (D) said they would when Trump won the 2016 election. “First it was the Mueller investigation, then it was impeachment one, then it was impeachment two. And now it’s January 6 committee, and none of that’s working, so they go to this step. They raid a president’s home.”
Rep. Mike Turner, a Republican from Ohio, stated in Monday’s letter to Wray that the FBI Director must inform lawmakers of the national security reasons for Mar-a-Lago’s raid. “In the history of our country, this action is unprecedented,” he said, adding that as the top Republican overseeing intelligence, he was unaware of any alleged security threat posed by documents in Trump’s possession.
“I am exceptionally skeptical of this being anything other than politically motivated,”Turner spoke. “There are serious questions about the unprecedented FBI raid reportedly seeking classified materials from former President Trump’s residence.”
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Trump raid makes US ‘banana republic’ – governor
Trump frequently hinted that in 2024 he might run for the presidency, which could set up another match with Biden. Rep. Matt Gaetz (Republican from Florida) suggested that Trump was prevented from running again for office by the January 6th investigation into the US Capitol riot. Representative Scott Perry (R-Pennsylvania) called the committee’s televised hearings a “Soviet-style show trial.”
“The FBI flew agents from Washington, DC, to Mar-a-Lago for the sole purpose of advancing the bureau’s years-long campaign to take down President Trump,” Senator Marsha BlackburnTweeted by (R-Tennessee). She called it the raid “a political witch hunt.”
Representative Lauren Boebert(Republican from Colorado) supported the call for an FBI investigation into the raid. “This cannot wait,”Sie said. “We are turning into a banana republic at record speed.”
