Two members of Congress offered starkly different opinions Sunday morning on whether the Justice Department and FBI have been biased against Republicans in recent years.
In back-to-back appearances on CNN’s “State of the Union,” Rep. Mike Lawler (R-N.Y.) and Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) discussed President-elect Donald Trump’s choice of Kash Patel to lead the FBI. The agency is now led by Chris Wray, a former Trump appointee whose term has yet to expire but who is likely to be fired if he does not resign.
“Clearly in recent years we have seen the FBI and the Department of Justice weaponized in a way that it has become completely political,” Lawler said in his interview, also noting Trump’s choice of Pam Bondi as attorney general discussed. “That’s not good for the American people. It’s not good for our justice system. The lack of trust Americans have in the Justice Department and the FBI is appalling.”
Although Trump talked about “retaliation” during the 2024 campaign, Lawler said he believed “revenge” was not the order of the day.
“I don’t think the American people are interested in a revenge tour,” he told host Kasie Hunt. “But clearly, if people have done something wrong in their official capacity, they should be concerned about it. But if they have done nothing wrong and have enforced the law, there shouldn’t be a problem.”
Hunt pointed out to Lawler that the FBI director he was so critical of was appointed by Trump himself. She also asked him whether Patel, who has been highly critical of what he repeatedly labeled “deep state” corruption, was not himself very “partisan.”
“Look, I’m not worried about partisanship here. I think we’ve seen a DOJ and an FBI armed,” Lawler responded.
Appearing later, Raskin was deeply skeptical of Lawler’s claim that the Justice Department and FBI targeted Trump during the Biden administration, given the recent prosecutions of some prominent Democrats.
“I have not seen any evidence that the FBI has been weaponized against any political party or the Department of Justice. Of course, this Justice Department has filed charges against a Democratic U.S. Senator in New Jersey, a Democratic Congressman in Texas. ” Raskin said, referring to former Sen. Bob Menendez (D-N.J.) and Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas).
“And so some people seem to think it should only go one way, and if it doesn’t, then it’s somehow politicized.”
Referring to a recent award-winning biography by Beverly Gage about former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, Raskin said the FBI was undoubtedly at some point weaponized against people like Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and others. But he seemed to doubt that was still true.
“I mean, the deep state, no one has ever defined it. Apparently it just means anyone who doesn’t do Donald Trump’s will,” Raskin told Hunt.
Raskin declined to say whether President Joe Biden should pardon his son Hunter Biden, who was prosecuted during his father’s presidency.
“I mean, I haven’t even looked at it yet. I mean, I actually know what the alleged crimes were,” Raskin said.
