Just when you thought things couldn’t get even more dystopian, former President Donald Trump confirmed Monday night that the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) were at his Mar-a-Lago beachfront estate carrying out a search warrant. Trump described the raid as “dark times for our Nation” and said that his home was “under siege, raided, and occupied by a large group of FBI agents.”
Trump went on to release an extensive statement on the raid.
It didn’t take long for Trump’s most loyal MAGA lawmakers to proclaim their outrage over the audacity that their leader be investigated. After all, he’s above the law, they believe.
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Texas Republican Rep. Ronny Jackson tweeted, “Tonight the FBI officially became the enemy of the people!!”
Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene initially tweeted to “Defund the FBI,” then Tuesday morning called the raid “tyrannical” and suggested that the FBI’s search will only stoke GOP voters in November.
“I’ve talked a lot about the civil war in the GOP and I lean into it because America needs fearless & effective Republicans to finally put America First. Last night’s tyrannical FBI raid at MAR is unifying us in ways I haven’t seen. In January, we take on the enemy within.”
Indiana Rep. Jim Banks offered that “Republicans have a moral duty to fight back!”
Florida Sen. Rick Scott claimed on Fox News that the FBI execution of the warrant was something you’d see from the “Gestapo” and the “Soviet Union and Latin America.”
Georgia Rep. Jody Hice met with Trump and Greene in 2020 to discuss plans to overturn the presidential election results. According to Georgia Democrats, “video surfaced of Hice promising that if elected, he would work to retroactively ‘decertify’ the 2020 election results.”
Monday night, Hice wrote on Twitter, “What does the FBI know about Hunter Biden?”
New York Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney accused the Department of Justice and the FBI of “being weaponized” and demanded that President Joe Biden and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland “answer immediately” for the Mar-a-Lago search.
“The DOJ & FBI are being weaponized like never before to target political opponents. This Admin has thrown the rule of law and faith in our democratic institutions out the door. Joe Biden and Merrick Garland must answer immediately for today’s raid against an American president.”
Republican Florida Rep. John Rutherford tweeted Monday night that he wanted to see the FBI search warrant and “probably cause.” Well, we don’t know the cause of the search, but it was “probably” because Trump has committed a crime—probably.
Rep. Guy Reschenthaler of Pennsylvania called the FBI search harassment of Trump and suggested that law enforcement should be focused on “terrorists at our southern border.”
“So far this year, CBP arrested more than 50 terrorists at our southern border but we have no idea how many evaded capture and entered our country. The FBI should be answering that question, not harassing a former president.”
Texas Rep. Louis Gohmert called the search something “Stalin would be proud of…”
Sen. Rand Paul called the search “outrageous and unjust, but predictable.” Paul is the same man who said he was “proud of the job Donald Trump has done,” and called Trump’s impeachment the “antithesis of unity.”
Sen. Marsha Blackburn referred to the “Obama FBI” and warned, “If they can do this to Trump, they will do it to you!” So try not to steal any classified documents from the White House, folks.
The head of the FBI is Christopher Wray. He became the eighth director on Aug. 2, 2017. He was formally nominated by Trump on June 26, 2017, and confirmed by the Senate on July 12, 2017.
Rep. Kevin McCarthy chose to put Garland on notice with a warning to the attorney general to “preserve your documents and clear your calendar.”
I swear, I thought that message was for Trump.
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