Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) on Thursday slammed the “sickening” attacks Republican lawmakers have directed toward the FBI agents involved with the search on former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, arguing that the remarks are putting personnel at risk.
“I have been ashamed to hear members of my party attacking the integrity of the FBI agents involved with the recent Mar-a-Lago search,” Cheney wrote on Twitter. “These are sickening comments that put the lives of patriotic public servants at risk.”
Cheney’s statement came days after the FBI executed a search warrant on Trump’s Florida Mar-a-Lago property — a move that, according to multiple outlets, was part of an ongoing probe into the potential mishandling of documents.
Reports have indicated that Trump may have brought classified documents to Mar-a-Lago when he departed the White House.
A number of Republican lawmakers criticized the FBI following news of the search, painting the FBI as politicized and likening it to an authority that would operate in a third-world country.
Attorney General Merrick Garland on Thursday, in his first public remarks since the search, addressed those comments.
“Let me address recent unfounded attacks on the professionalism of the FBI and Justice Department agents and prosecutors. I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked,” Garland said in remarks from the Justice Department headquarters.
“The men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated, patriotic public servants. Every day they protect the American people from violent crime, terrorism, and other threats to their safety while safeguarding our civil rights. They do so at great personal sacrifice and risk to themselves. I am honored to work alongside them,” he added.
Garland’s comments came in a statement he delivered to announce that the Justice Department had moved to unseal the search warrant for Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, as well as its property receipt.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) on Thursday also pushed back on attacks from his GOP colleagues and called on his fellow Republicans to speak up if they feel the same way.
“Listening to Republicans attack law enforcement is wrong, dangerous, and shameful,” Kinzinger wrote on Twitter.
“They will pick their cult leader over anything, but this is especially wrong. Every Republican official who doesn’t agree with those attacks MUST speak out if there are any patriots left,” he added.
Cheney has frequently criticized her Republican colleagues and Trump, especially through her role as vice chairwoman of the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.
In a closing campaign ad for her upcoming reelection primary race, Cheney took another jab at the former president.
“America cannot remain free if we abandon the truth. The lie that the 2020 presidential election was stolen is insidious,” she said. “It preys on those who love their country. It is a door Donald Trump opened to manipulate Americans to abandon their principles, to sacrifice their freedom, to justify violence, to ignore the rulings of our courts and the rule of law.”
