Pence Condemns Attacks On FBI Over Mar-A-Lago Raid

Topline

Former Vice President Mike Pence condemned attacks against the FBI by fellow members of the Republican Party over the raid of former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in a speech Wednesday, calling the GOP the “party of law and order” — joining a movement of moderate Republicans calling out their counterparts for slamming law enforcement and deepening the divide between Pence and Trump.

Key Facts

Pence said in a speech at Saint Anselm College in New Hampshire, “calls to defund the FBI are just as wrong as calls to defund the police,” becoming the latest major Republican to denounce far-right attacks on law enforcement.

Other top Republicans have refused to attack the agency outright, including members of the House Intelligence Committee, the New York Times reported, as well as Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), who told CBS’ “Face the Nation” the raid was “unprecedented,” but that he has “urged all my colleagues “to make sure they understand the weight of their words.”

Republicans such as Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) have compared the FBI to the “Gestapo” and called agents “tyrants.”

Rep. Scott Perry (R-Pa.), a member of the conservative House Freedom Caucus has also slammed the FBI after it seized his phone last week, accusing the agency of “banana republic tactics,” the Associated Press reported.

Pence told the crowd on Wednesday that the federal government can hold Attorney General Merrick Garland accountable for launching the raid without “attacking the rank and file law enforcement personnel at the FBI.”

His comments come hours after Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) — one of Trump’s biggest critics — launched an organization “to mobilize a unified effort to oppose any Donald Trump campaign for president,” one day after losing in the Republican primary for the House seat.

Key Background

The Department of Justice has been probing Trump’s transfer of White House records to his home in Florida after he left office. In January, Trump returned 15 boxes of materials to the National Archives that included “classified national security information,” according to a statement from the agency, but concerns that he still had classified documents at Mar-a-Lago – fueled by a tip from an informant – led to last week’s raid. The Department of Justice is now focusing on whether he violated three federal statutes, including the Espionage Act — which criminalizes the possession or disclosure of national defense information — by removing the documents from the White House. Major Republicans, led by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) have since called for the act to be repealed, with Paul arguing in a tweet, “it is long past time to repeal this egregious affront to the 1st Amendment.” Last Friday, the FBI and Department of Homeland Security issued a statement warning of increased threats to law enforcement officials, one day after an armed man tried to enter an FBI building in Cincinnati, leading to a standoff with police in which the gunman was killed. On Sunday, a man rammed his car through a barricade at the Capitol building before shooting himself as officers approached – the latest in a series of attacks on federal offices since the Capitol riot last year, the New York Times reported.

Crucial Quote

“We need to let the facts play out, but more than anything else, the American people need to be reassured in the integrity of our justice system, and the very appearance of a recurrence of politics playing a role in decisions at the Justice Department demands transparency as never before,” Pence said Wednesday.

News Peg

Pence said Wednesday he would consider testifying before the House committee investigating Trump’s role in the January 6 riots at the Capitol last year, calling it “unprecedented” for a former vice president to be called to testify on Capitol Hill, but not something he would “pre-judge.” Trump had repeatedly pressured Pence to overturn his loss in the 2020 election by throwing out electoral votes.

Further Reading

Mar-A-Lago Raid: FBI Investigating Whether Trump Violated These 3 Statutes (Forbes)

Search Warrant Unsealed In FBI’s Trump Mar-A-Lago Raid (Forbes)

Some Republicans Make a More Restrained Case for Defending Trump (New York Times)