Fmr Congressman: The FBI Isn't Perfect, But Attacking Merrick Garland Won’t Get House Republicans Anywhere
Ex-Rep Rooney pushes back against new select committee
The FBI and other agencies certainly aren't perfect, but the new Republican House majority isn't doing itself any favors by creating a new select committee to investigate the so-called “weaponization” of the federal government, according to a former Republican congressman.
This new subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee will have extraordinary power to investigate any part of the federal government for perceived wrongdoing against conservatives -- the Justice Department and FBI, in particular.
It's really about “settling scores,” politically — especially against those who have dared investigate crimes committed by Donald Trump, critics have charged.
Formation of the potentially powerful select committee is a mistake, according to former congressman Francis Rooney, a Republican who represented his Florida district for four years during the Trump era.
It was also a mistake for House Republicans not to more generally participate on the now-disbanded select committee investigating the events surrounding the January 6, 2021, insurrection, Rooney told MSNBC host Joy Reid.
In the end, just two Republicans served on the January 6 committee — over the objections of their own leadership.
“And actually, I think the Republicans made a big mistake by not getting on that committee when [then-] Speaker [Nancy] Pelosi offered them some seats,” Rooney said.
Agencies like the FBI are not without blame, according to Rooney, citing wrongdoing by one-time agents Peter Strzok and Lisa Page.
“I think that a couple years ago during the Steele memo, Strzok and his girlfriend were a little out of parameter, a little personal, a little political. I think [then-acting] Director [Andrew] McCabe said that and pushed them back. You know, nobody is perfect. They are all human,” Rooney said, citing a salacious anti-Trump memo circulated during the 2016 election. “But at the end of the day, that's the Department of Justice that we have. That is the protector and enforcer of our laws.
“And I think Merrick Garland is as honorable guy as anybody else. I don’t think attacking him personally is going to get the Republicans anywhere,” Rooney said, referring to the nation's attorney general.
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