Democratic Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin on CNN Sunday said he had not seen “proof” the FBI was being weaponized against one political party, while calling out President-elect Donald Trump’s pick of Kash Patel as his FBI director.
Trump announced Saturday his plans to replace current FBI Director Christopher Wray, whom he appointed during his first term, with Patel, whom he said would help the agency “end the growing crime epidemic in America, dismantle the migrant criminal gangs, and stop the evil scourge of human and drug trafficking across the border.” On “State of the Union,” guest host Kasie Hunt began by asking for Raskin’s reaction to Trump’s pick.
“Well, Christopher Wray, of course, is a Republican, appointed by a Republican, as he has said. But apparently he has demonstrated too much independence and objectivity in the job for Donald Trump, who wants much more of a personal loyalist in the position, and that’s why he’s gone to Kash Patel,” Raskin said.
Hunt then jumped in and questioned the Democratic lawmaker on whether he believed there were “any issues” inside the FBI under its current leadership, to which Raskin did not deny historically, but claimed there was no current proof for one party being targeted, as he listed Democrats who had been charged federally.
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“If you look at it historically, for example, during the Cohen-Telpro period, the FBI really was weaponized against Dr. King and the Civil Rights Movement and the Peace Movement. There was decades of the FBI being basically used as a political instrument. There’s an interesting book about that, about J. Edgar Hoover by Beverly Gage, and people can look at,” Raskin said.
“I haven’t seen what the proof is that the FBI has been weaponized against a political party — or the Department of Justice. Of course, this Department of Justice has brought charges against a Democratic U.S. senator in New Jersey, a Democratic congressman in Texas. Some people just seem to think that it should go only in one direction, and if it doesn’t, then somehow it’s politicized. I think that’s what they mean when they talk about politicization in the deep state,” Raskin added. “I mean, the deep state, nobody’s ever defined it. Apparently, it just means anybody who doesn’t do the will of Donald Trump.”
With Americans’ attitudes toward the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) on the decline, Wray faced increased backlash after the first assassination attempt against Trump at his Pennsylvania rally on July 13. During a hearing with the House Judiciary Committee after the attack, Wray told lawmakers, “With respect to former President Trump, there’s some question about whether or not it’s a bullet or shrapnel that, you know, hit his ear.”
Republicans have long criticized the FBI director for his alleged “political bias” in investigations like Hunter Biden’s, with Republican Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley demanding information from Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland in a letter from July 2022. The letter followed allegations from two Internal Revenue Service (IRS) whistleblowers that the DOJ had slow-walked criminal investigations into Hunter’s alleged unpaid taxes from 2017 and 2018.
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