RIGHT WING READY TO TAKE LAW INTO ITS OWN HANDS?
Republicans escalate dark rhetoric against nation’s justice system after FBI’s search of Trump estate
WASHINGTON — Republicans in Congress who are relying on Donald Trump to excite voters in the fall elections are not only defending the former president against the FBI search of his Mar-aLago home but politically capitalizing on it with grave and potentially dangerous rhetoric against the nation’s justice system.
The party that once stood staunchly for law-and-order has dramatically reversed course, stirring up opposition to the FBI and tapping into political grievances and far-right conspiracies that fed the deadly Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
It’s all part of the GOP’s election year strategy to harness voter outrage over the unprecedented search, quickly and unequivocally set in motion as Trump hosted a dozen Republicans for dinner of steak and scallops at his private Bedminster club the day after the FBI action.
One Republican at the table, Rep. Troy Nehls of Texas, a former sheriff, said he told the former president “loud and clear” that it’s time to protect himself politically by declaring his 2024 campaign for the presidency.
“Mr. President, I said, the American people, your supporters, are concerned with this corrupt DOJ and the FBI.”
“If I were you, sir, announce you’re running for president,” Nehls recalled telling Trump. “Take that doubt, take that anxiety away from the people that want you to be our 47th president.”
The escalating rhetoric comes amid stark warnings of violence against law enforcement, including the Ohio police shooting Thursday of an armed man clad in body armor who tried to breach the FBI’s Cincinnati office and engaged in an hours-long standoff. The day before, FBI Director Christopher Wray had called the threats to agents and DOJ “deplorable.” The FBI has warned its agents to take precautions, citing an increase in social media threats to bureau personnel and facilities. In some extreme cases, GOP lawmakers and others are demanding the FBI be dismantled and defunded.
It’s all coming at a time of blistering attacks on the nation’s civic institutions that experts say is worrisome, if not dangerous, for the future of U.S. democracy.
“All of this rhetoric is being thrown around without any consideration for possible consequences,” said Frank Montoya Jr., a retired FBI special agent who led the bureau’s field offices in Seattle and Honolulu.
“All that does is stir up that minority within the base that aren’t satisfied with just words, they actually want to act it out.”
Heidi Beirich, co-founder of the Global Project Against Hate and Extremism, said, “The vitriol coming from extremists, white supremacists and others, has been overwhelming,” pointing to rhetoric from Trump’s former campaign manager Steve Bannon and others warning of assassinations or calling for civil war.
“We usually expect that from these quarters, but the same kind of rhetoric is coming from prominent Republicans and Trump allies,” she said by email. “These comments coming from Republicans are really worrying as they are mainstreaming violent rhetoric.”
Asked Friday at the Capitol about the responsibility leaders have to tone down the rhetoric and keep the nation calm during times of uncertainty and distress, House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy demurred — and blamed Attorney General Merrick Garland.
“I think the attorney general has a real problem here,” McCarthy said.
The No. 3 House Republican, Rep. Elise Stefanik, claimed without evidence the Biden administration was “weaponizing” the Justice Department against Trump, a top potential 2024 rival for the White House.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that Trump’s role inciting the insurrection at the Capitol was sufficient cause to have concerns about inflammatory political rhetoric.
“You would think there’s an adult in the Republican room who would say, ‘Just calm down and see what the facts are and let’s go for that,’” Pelosi said, “instead of again instigating assaults on law enforcement.”
One Republican, Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, a former FBI agent, called on lawmakers to cool it.
“I don’t think any of this is okay,” Fitzpatrick told reporters.
“We’re the world’s oldest democracy, and that can go away very quickly,” he said. “As our adversaries have said so many times: The only way you defeat America, you’re never going to beat America from the outside, ever. The only
way you beat the world’s greatest democracy is from within — turning American on American.”