Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz Pushes for the Indictment of FBI Agents After the Release of the Durham Report
Jose Nino
|
Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz has called for the FBI to be defunded and its agents to be criminally indicted after special counsel John Durham released a report where he stated that the federal agency should have never conducted an investigation to determine if former President Donald Trump had colluded with the Russian government to win the 2016 election.
In Durham’s 300+ page report, he claimed that the FBI hastily conducted an investigation without having any evidence that Trump campaign officials had reached out to any Russian intelligence officer.
In an interview with Newsmax on May 15, 2023, Gaetz accused the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) of being politically biased in the investigation. He proclaimed that the agency has become “the enforcement wing of the Democratic Party to play offense against Trump.” He believes that the agency’s actions are “very ugly for the future of a democracy where the people make the choices.”
“The report takes great lengths to point out the number of times where Trump was targeted in a way no other American would be,” Gaetz stated. “In essence, the FBI has now become a disinformation and election interference enterprise here in our country. It’s very damning for them, the Steele Dossier was nonsense, the probable cause standard even to originate an investigation … was never met, and you had a secret court that was lied to.”
“I think we have to deauthorize, defang, and defund many of these authorities and entities and different task forces that actually converted the just and righteous act of protecting our country with the desire to have a particular political candidate win or lose,” he continued.
Gaetz expressed his disappointment that the report did not recommend any indictments on top of the 3 people Durham already prosecuted, calling attention to how he believes more individuals should have been subject to prosecution as a result of the investigation.
“The only indictment that Durham is able to cite here is the indictment of Kevin Clinesmith,” Gaetz noted, making a reference to an ex-FBI lawyer who forged an email to state that a one-time Trump campaign associate was not a CIA asset when the associate was operating as a CIA asset. Since then, Clinesmith pleaded guilty and received probation.
“And guess what? He’s already back to practicing law,” Gaetz continued. “Got his law license back, and practicing law here in D.C. now. Insufficient.”
“In a proper world, Republicans and Democrats would be able to work together on this,” Gaetz concluded. “It wasn’t that long ago that the FBI was a right-wing organization, weaponized against civil rights leaders and others. And it was wrong then, and it’s wrong now.”
No question about it, the FBI needs to be defunded and ultimately abolished. In the meantime, its agents must be punished for their malfeasances. Allowing this agency to continue operating with impunity is just acting for all sorts of problems.
Share: