Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) spoke with CNN "State of the Union" host Jake Tapper on Sunday and described the criticisms against the FBI and DOJ following the August 8 raid on Mar-a-Lago as "fully warranted."
Opening the conversation by listing off offenses of aggression that have taken place since the raid, Tapper put Marjorie Taylor Greene at the top of that list, referring to her jokingly as one of Crenshaw's favorites. Greene put out the call to "defund the FBI" following the Mar-a-Lago raid, and other Trump supporters fell in line to echo her sentiments.
"Federal prosecutors have since charged a Pennsylvania man this week after he wrote on social media 'If you work for the FBI you deserve to die.' Obviously that armed man tried to enter the FBI office in Ohio. There's a Republican Congressional candidate, Carl Paladino, who said Attorney General Merrick Garland should probably be executed. That rhetoric, I'm sure, bothers you," said Tapper before handing the topic over to Crenshaw.
"Oh yeah. It's crazy," said Crenshaw. "And it makes us seem like extremist Democrats, right? Marjorie and AOC can go join the defund the law enforcement club, if they want. 99% of Republicans are not on that train. What we want is accountability. We want transparency. And the criticisms we're leveling against the FBI and DOJ are fully warranted. It is not those criticisms that lead to a crazy person attacking an FBI agent."
"I'm not saying that. I'm talking about people who are saying 'Kill the FBI,' Tapper interjected.
"It's completely wrong. But that's not where 99% of Republicans are at," Crenshaw was quick to volley. "And I'll tell you what frustrates Republicans when you hear that kind of criticism. Last time I checked you had even the White House spokesperson saying 'yes, people should be out protesting in front of Supreme Court Justice's homes.' Even after Brett Kavanaugh had his life threatened by this. So there's a double standard that frustrates the Republicans."
Watch a clip from the interview here:
"I like to be on the side of it's all bad no matter who is saying it."@DanCrenshawTX responds to "crazy" rhetoric from his GOP colleagues in the wake of the FBI search of former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago home. @CNNSotu #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/GriFJ6lE0J
— CNN (@CNN) August 21, 2022
