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Republican Rep. Mike Lawler of New York criticized the politicization of the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) during a CNN appearance on Sunday. Responding to guest host Kasie Hunt’s questions on State of the Union, Lawler addressed concerns about whether Kash Patel, President-elect Donald Trump’s pick to lead the FBI, intends to target “political enemies.”

Trump announced Patel’s nomination on Saturday, describing him as the person to guide the FBI into a “new era.” Hunt pressed Lawler on whether he had reservations about Patel’s alleged plans, referencing claims from Patel’s book that he had a “list” of individuals he might pursue.

“Look, I don’t think the American people are interested in a revenge tour, but obviously, if people did wrong in their official capacities, then that’s something they should be concerned about. But if they didn’t do anything wrong, if they upheld the law, then there shouldn’t be a problem,” Lawler said. “The objective here obviously is to reform the Department of Justice and the FBI and get it back to its mission of going after criminals.”

“Obviously, in recent years, we’ve seen the FBI and the Department of Justice weaponized in a way that has become completely political. That’s not good for the American people. It’s not good for our system of justice. The lack of confidence that Americans have in the Department of Justice and the FBI is terrible. So obviously we want a system that is reformed, that works for the American people, and that prosecutes criminals. And that should be the objective and the goal of every American. Obviously that’s what my hope is as the Department of Justice moves forward under Pam Bondi and the FBI under Kash Patel.”

Hunt pressed Lawler further, questioning whether Kash Patel would be the right choice to achieve “partisan neutrality” in a second Trump administration. She also pointed out that Patel would replace current FBI Director Christopher Wray, who was appointed by Trump during his first term.

“Right, and Christopher Wray’s FBI then went and investigated Donald Trump. These charges have since been dropped by the special prosecutor,” Lawler responded. “But again, Kasie, these issues have been litigated in this election that we just had. Donald Trump talked about this for two years, so I don’t know why anybody is surprised. The American people voted for Donald Trump overwhelmingly, despite him campaigning on these issues.”

“I’m not concerned about partisanship here. I think we’ve seen a DOJ and an FBI that have been weaponized. You look at the New York State Attorney General Letitia James. She literally campaigned on prosecuting Donald Trump. I didn’t see many in the media objecting to that. The fact is that our system of justice needs to be depoliticized,” Lawler said. “Unfortunately, under the Biden administration, we have seen it weaponized, and it’s wrong.”

WATCH:

Trump has consistently supported investigations into the FBI, accusing its leadership of corruption and alleging efforts to undermine him. During the 2023 Republican presidential primaries, Trump and all GOP candidates, with the exception of former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, pledged to dismiss FBI Director Christopher Wray if elected.

Trump said in a March campaign video that his second administration would bring an end to the “weaponized” departments, with agencies being “completely overhauled” through the “firing all of the corrupt actors in our National Security and Intelligence apparatus.”

Trump signaled plans to issue mass pardons for individuals involved in the January 6, 2021, Capitol riot and vowed to restructure the “Democrat-controlled” DOJ after President Joe Biden announced on Sunday he had pardoned his son, Hunter Biden, after claiming for a year he wouldn’t do so.

“Does the Pardon given by Joe to Hunter include the J-6 Hostages, who have now been imprisoned for years? Such an abuse and miscarriage of Justice!” Trump posted on Truth Social.

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