How are Republicans reacting to the FBI searching Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate?
With the traditional disdain for rules and law that the Trump administration has shown, it is no surprise that Republicans are outraged at the FBI’s actions
Over the past decade or so, the Republican party has shifted towards an almost permanent state of hysteria and hypocrisy. Only four years ago, Donald Trump made headway in stoking a cauldron of mistrust against Hillary Clinton with speeches where he claimed that “anyone being investigated by the FBI is unfit to be president” and that “the mob takes the fifth. If you are innocent, why are taking the fifth?”
So intractable has his support been that even as he took the fifth his supporters trotted out to denounce the FBI’s investigation into his malfeasance.
House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy vowed to launch an investigation into the Department of Justice itself, effectively threatening the FBI for daring to investigate criminal activity. Mike Pence took to Twitter, the trusty refuge of Trump, to say, “I share the deep concern of millions of Americans over the unprecedented search of the personal residence of President Trump.”
Without a hint of irony, Pence alleged that “some FBI agents” were acting on political motivation, and insisted that Attorney General Merrick Garland “must give a full accounting to the American people as to why this action was taken and he must do so immediately.”
Senate GOP leader Mitch McConnell issued a terse statement saying, “The country deserves a thorough and immediate explanation of what led to the events of Monday. Attorney General Garland and the Department of Justice should already have provided answers to the American people and must do so immediately.”
Furthering the threat to law enforcement and the rule of law, McCarthy pledged to investigate the Attorney General personally should Republicans win control of the House: “Preserve your documents and clear your calendar.”
Given that there is ample evidence and history of Donald Trump’s mishandling of classified information, including revealing the identities of several of our spies and sharing classified documents with Russia, the search of his property is legal and justified. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi took the direct route, reminding us all that “No person is above the law.”