Trump may have left D.C., but his beefs with the FBI and the CIA simmer on among his House allies
WASHINGTON — Donald Trump may be gone from Washington, but House Republicans — who hope to retake control of the lower chamber in next year’s elections — continue to nurse his longstanding grievances against the American intelligence community.
At last week’s House hearing on the top threats to national security, Republican after Republican grilled intelligence agency leaders not about Russia, China or North Korea — but about a series of niche issues with which only ardent consumers of right-wing news sources would be conversant. The lawmakers made it clear that they had little trust in America’s security agencies.
“I’m telling you, if an FBI agent came up and asked to talk to me, there’s no way in the world I would talk to them without a lawyer present. I don’t care what they wanted to know,” Rep. Chris Stewart of Utah told FBI Director Christopher Wray, a lifelong Republican appointed by Trump.
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For most of the post-World War II era, Republicans embraced the national security state and particularly the FBI, a law enforcement agency whose members, by their own accounts, have tended to lean right in their politics.
The Trump presidency changed that. Under FBI investigation for much of his presidency, Trump referred to FBI agents as “scum” who “destroyed the lives of people” and branded as “rats” people who cooperated with law enforcement. His Republican allies followed his lead.
Now, even with Trump gone, his skepticism of intelligence agencies, including the FBI, which collects intelligence on domestic terrorism threats, appears to be holding on in Republican circles.
They express views widely held by the party’s base. In a December Ipsos poll, 39 percent of respondents agreed that a “deep state” was working to undermine Trump. Majorities of both Republicans and Fox News viewers responding to the poll agreed with that assessment, as did nearly half of white men and rural residents, both strong GOP demographics.
House Republicans have sought to continue the fight over what they see as wrongful FBI conduct during the investigation into whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia, and they also express concern that the intelligence community’s involvement in President Joe Biden’s approach to fighting domestic extremism equates to targeting conservatives.
Those themes have been far less prevalent among Republican senators, who are elected statewide and therefore represent more diverse constituencies.
A day before the House session, Republican members of the Senate Intelligence Committee struck a much different tone at their own worldwide threats hearing.
