Republican Rep. Victoria Spartz, who was born in the Soviet Union, went after U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland and the FBI – comparing the federal agency to the old KGB.
Spartz noted serious concerns over actions taken by the FBI and over a variety of security disasters that have erupted under President Joe Biden’s administration.
“Mr. Attorney General, as someone who was born in the Soviet Union, I am disturbed, very disturbed, by the use of the Department of Justice as a political tool, and its power as the police state to suppress lawful public discourse,” she said.
“The FBI is starting to resemble old KGB with secret warrantless surveillance, wiretapping, and intimidation of citizens. School board [inaudible] is the latest example.”
“It’s interesting that during the Soviet-era, the United States criticized the use of the domestic terrorism concept in the USSR as a tool to suppress free speech and political dissent,” she continued.
“In your recent statement opposing the Texas anti-abortion law, you said it is the foremost responsibility of the Department of Justice to defend the Constitution. Do you plan to defend the Second Amendment rights which are explicitly protected by our Constitution as vigorously as you do abortion rights? Yes or no?”
Spartz later pressed Garland over alleged abuses of FISA warrants by federal law enforcement officials, Biden’s border crisis, and Biden’s disastrous pullout from Afghanistan.
“But talking about another topic, I went to the border three times and recently visit airbase and Qatar and Camp Atterbury in Indiana, housing of Afghanistan evacuees. And based on what I’ve seen, I have some questions and significant national security concerns,” Spatz said.
“Former Border Patrol chief Rodney Scott recently said that the open border poses a real terror threat. Do you agree with the Border Patrol chief or Secretary Mayorkas, who recently said that the border is no less secure than before?”
Garland responded, “If you’re asking about terrorism traveling across the border, I’m concerned about that across all of our borders. This has been a continuing concern.”
Spartz pressed on, “But do you agree with that, you know, Border Patrol chief that what’s happening right now is make us less secure and have a real, you know, increased terror threat?”
Garland danced around the answer, “I believe that combination of the Intelligence Community and the FBI are working very hard to make sure that people crossing the border do not constitute a terrorist threat. But we have to always be worried about the possibility, and we are ever vigilant on that subject.”
Spartz then questioned, “Do you have any specific actions and plans that you do in light of what’s happening right now at the border? … Do you take any specific actions at the border?”
“With respect to crossing of the border, this is a combination of the Intelligence Community outside of our intelligence community getting information about who might be trying to cross,” Garland answered.
Author: Matthew Hamlin
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