New York Representative Mike Lawler criticized the political weaponization of the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) during a CNN interview on Sunday after guest host Kasie Hunt inquired whether Kash Patel intends to target “political enemies.” President-elect Donald Trump announced his nomination of Patel on Saturday to lead the FBI, stating in a press release that the former Trump administration official aims to usher the agency into a new era. On the show “State of the Union,” Hunt pressed the GOP lawmaker about any “reservations” he might have regarding Patel’s alleged plans to pursue Trump’s political adversaries, referencing a “list” of names mentioned in Patel’s book.
“Look, I don’t think the American people are interested in a revenge tour, but obviously, if people did wrong in their official capacities, then that’s something they should be concerned about. But if they didn’t do anything wrong, if they upheld the law, then there shouldn’t be a problem,” Lawler said. “The objective here obviously is to reform the Department of Justice and the FBI and get it back to its mission of going after criminals.”
“Obviously, in recent years, we’ve seen the FBI and the Department of Justice weaponized in a way that has become completely political. That’s not good for the American people. It’s not good for our system of justice. The lack of confidence that Americans have in the Department of Justice and the FBI is terrible,” Lawler continued. “So obviously we want a system that is reformed, that works for the American people, and that prosecutes criminals. And that should be the objective and the goal of every American. Obviously, that’s what my hope is as the Department of Justice moves forward under Pam Bondi and the FBI under Kash Patel.”
Hunt continued to challenge Lawler by questioning whether Patel was the right choice to achieve “partisan neutrality” in a potential second Trump administration. She also emphasized that Patel would be succeeding FBI Director Christopher Wray, whom Trump had appointed during his first term. “Right, and Christopher Wray’s FBI then went and investigated Donald Trump. These charges have since been dropped by the special prosecutor,” Lawler responded.
“But again, Kasie, these issues have been litigated in this election that we just had. Donald Trump talked about this for two years, so I don’t know why anybody is surprised. The American people voted for Donald Trump overwhelmingly, despite him campaigning on these issues,” he added. “I’m not concerned about partisanship here. I think we’ve seen a DOJ and an FBI that have been weaponized. You look at the New York State Attorney General Letitia James. She literally campaigned on prosecuting Donald Trump.”
“I didn’t see many in the media objecting to that. The fact is that our system of justice needs to be depoliticized,” Lawler said. “Unfortunately, under the Biden administration, we have seen it weaponized, and it’s wrong.” Trump has repeatedly called for investigations into the FBI, accusing its leadership of corruption and alleging that officials have worked against him. During the 2023 Republican presidential primaries, Trump and every GOP candidate except former New Jersey Governor and former federal prosecutor Chris Christie vowed to remove Wray if they won the presidency.
WATCH:
GOP Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) states the obvious after CNN’s Kasie Hunt asks if Trump FBI pick Kash Patel will ‘go after’ political enemies.
No wonder the mainstream media is dying. ? pic.twitter.com/Z7B0EtQqvP
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