'What do you mean?' CNN's Jake Tapper corners GOP senator for attacking the FBI
October 16, 2024
Sen. Markwayne Mullin (R-OK) was questioned by CNN's Jake Tapper on former President Donald Trump's new threats to use the military against his political opponents — and sat there stunned as the senator immediately pivoted to an attack on the FBI for investigating participants in the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
"President Trump, in the last few days, not only called his political opponents 'the enemy from within,' he suggested he would like to use the National Guard or the military on them," said Tapper, playing a clip of the exchange. "He went on to talk about Congressman Adam Schiff as one of these lunatics in his view ... what's your reaction to that?"
"Well, I think it's kind of taken a little bit out of context to some degree," said Mullin. "But when you start talking about the enemy of the state, remember, after January 6 and prior to January 6, you heard 'domestic terrorism' used over and over again by the FBI and other intelligence agencies and they specifically targeted Republicans at the time. I'm not saying we should do a tit for tat at all ... but we do need to be looking at who's trying to destroy our American system, who's trying to destroy the democracy that we have."
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He went on to suggest Trump had valid grievances against the left, because, "We've seen what they've done to President Trump."
"We've seen what they did after January 6, and it hasn't slowed down," he said, adding that American politics need to get back to where "we can sit down have a cordial conversation."
"What do you mean the FBI — that you take issue with what they did after January 6?" said Tapper. "I mean, the FBI was investigating people that broke the law and broke into the Capitol and committed acts of violence and tried to stop the constitutionally-mandated electoral count. You're not talking about the criminals who did that?"
"No, I'm talking about defining a whole group of individuals as domestic terrorists and terrorism and going directly to them, researching individuals by looking at their phones, where they were at in the proximity of it, and then ... weaponizing the IRS to go after business owners or people that might have been associated with them or businesses that were associated by them," said Mullin, who didn't provide any unjustified examples of the FBI doing this.
"What I'm sitting there saying is, why are we doing this? Why are we going after each other that we agree to disagree with?" said Mullin, adding that he's afraid no matter who wins the election, the other side will cry "illegitimate president." "Let's just try as a country to put the country first rather than putting party politics first. I'm so tired of party politics because we're running the great country that's given all of us a tremendous opportunity and a place to live."
Watch the video below or at the link here.
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