Congresswoman Liz Cheney said she has not seen evidence of political motivation behind the Mar-a-Lago raid.
Speaking to ABC’s This Week Sunday, the prominent Trump critic made clear her stance about the FBI’s search at the former president’s estate.
“I think that when you think about the fact that we were in a position where the FBI, the Department of Justice, felt the need to execute a search warrant at the home of a former president, that’s a really serious thing for the nation,” Ms Cheney said.
Ms Cheney also said that the FBI had seemingly tried to obtain the documents from Mr Trump, but he appeared “unwilling to give back these materials”.
The congresswoman criticised fellow Republicans who have decried the raid and engaged in theories about possible ulterior motives behind it.
Some Republicans, including Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene and Kentucky Sen Rand Paul, have gone as far as calling for the FBI to be defunded and suggesting — with no evidence whatsoever — that the agency could have possibly planted evidence to inculpate Mr Trump.
“I just think that for us as a party to be in a position where we’re reflexively attacking career law enforcement professionals in order to defend a former president who conducted himself the way this one did, it’s a really sad day for the party,” Ms Chenney told ABC.
The now-outgoing congresswoman also hinted that Trump allies’ comments threatened democracy and had sparked violence against FBI officials who ordered and executed the search.
“I was ashamed to hear Republicans immediately and reflexively attack the FBI agents who executed the search warrant. I ... was disgusted when I learned that President Trump had released the names of those agents when he released the unredacted search warrant,” Ms Cheney added.
“ [It] ... has now caused violence, we’ve seen threats of violence. The judge himself, the synagogue had to cancel services because of threats of violence. This is a really dangerous moment.”
Ms Cheney’s outspoken condemnation of Mr Trump and his role in the January 6 attack has proved highly detrimental to her political career.
Last week, she lost her Wyoming primary to Harriet Hageman, who was endorsed by Mr Trump.
More than 20 boxes of documents were seized from Mr Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home on 8 August in an investigation into his alleged violation of the Espionage Act and two other statutes — a separate probe from his role in the Capital riot and the civil investigation about his businesses in New York.
