Freedom Caucuser warns GOP their 'absurd' bid to defund FBI will backfire

Enraged over the FBI's investigations of former President Donald Trump and driven by a number of other conspiracy theories, Republicans have increasingly pushed to strip funding from the federal law enforcement agency, as a sort of punitive measure. But that is going to blow up in their faces, warned Rep. Ken Buck (R-CO), himself a member of the far-right Freedom Caucus, on CNN Wednesday.

His warning comes after the House held a hearing with Trump-appointed FBI Director Christopher Wray, where many GOP members hurled baseless accusations and engaged in character assassination.

"Do you think that the FBI is pursuing conservatives unfairly?" asked anchor Jake Tapper.

"No, I don't believe that," said Buck. "I think Director Wray is a good person. I think he's doing his very best to make sure the FBI follows the evidence. And I think that the FBI is largely treated unfairly in how it has been perceived and portrayed in the public."

"So some of your Republican colleagues are talking about using the power of the purse to punish the FBI and the Department of Justice, by eliminating or reducing significantly their budget," said Tapper. "POLITICO reported that you said in a closed-door meeting you cautioned your colleagues to be careful on this front and that you, quote, 'are not in favor of cutting DOJ.' Tell us why you think it would be a mistake for them to do so."

"Well, first of all, we have used the Defund the Police movement against the Democrats politically," said Buck. "The American public is not in favor of defunding the police in large cities, and they're not in favor of defunding a federal agency like the FBI. And so I was just counseling my friends and colleagues in the Republican Party to be very careful in the language they use. Obviously, if the FBI has inefficient programs or wasteful programs, absolutely we should look at that in a deficit reduction program. But to target the FBI as punishment is absurd. They're in charge of leading the effort on counterterrorism efforts, counterintelligence, Chinese and Russian spies. They're aiding the effort on white collar crime, human trafficking."

"To say we're going to cut an agency that performs such a vital function in the United States government is really irresponsible," Buck added.

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