GOP Sen. Hawley Demands FBI Answers On ‘Disturbing’ Trump Probe

Sen. Joshua Hawley (R-MO) questions Attorney General nominee William Barr during his confirmation hearing on January 15, 2019. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

In a letter to FBI Director Christopher Wray on Wednesday, Republican Sen. Josh Hawley (MO) asked the FBI to answer questions related to its “disturbing” counterintelligence probe of President Trump early on in his tenure.

In the letter — the second Hawley has sent on this topic — the freshman senator said he was prompted to renew his requests after former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe confirmed that the FBI launched the probe after Trump fired then-FBI Director James Comey and some in the Justice Department considered invoking the 25th Amendment to oust Trump.

“I am disturbed by these accounts of blatant political bias within the FBI,” he wrote in the letter shared with TPM. “Mr. McCabe launched an investigation to gather information that he intended to block the President from accessing and actively explored ways to force the President from office. These actions directly threaten the constitutional structure of the executive branch and place the political accountability of executive branch agencies in serious question.”

Hawley — the chair of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime and Terrorism, which has oversight over the FBI — joins the chorus of Trump allies expressing outrage over McCabe’s revelations in his recent press tour for his new book. McCabe confirmed that the FBI launched a counterintelligence probe into Trump, that some in the DOJ wanted to use the 25th Amendment to oust him and that Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein floated wearing a wire while speaking to Trump.

Hawley, who pulled off a win over incumbent Sen. Claire McCaskill (D) in the 2018 midterms, likely fueled by Trump’s support of his candidacy, asked Wray to answer a series of questions related to the probe, including information on McCabe’s conversations about the use of the 25th Amendment.

Read the letter below:

Latest News

Notable Replies

  1. Avatar for outis outis says:

    You first, Sen. Hawley.

  2. Of course. Blatant political bias at the agency that felt the need to go public about Weiner’s computer a week before the election in order to get ahead of agents who were planning to leak it…

  3. Outside of working, Senator, we didn’t do anything different from what you did as the Attorney General of Missouri.

  4. Hawley sends letter that misstates the facts to the FBI insisting it investigate itself. Why do I think it’s performance art and not a real request? And it’s the second time he’s done it? Repug senators are like 6-year-olds: “Watch me, Daddy! Aren’t I doing good?”

  5. Good lord, these Trump lickers really have no shame. Not a single ounce. MAYBE they should start worrying about the harm they and the ‘master’ they worship have done to the country before fking around to make some obscure political point.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

37 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for valgalky23 Avatar for gulliver Avatar for sysprog Avatar for fargo116 Avatar for bojimbo26 Avatar for steviedee111 Avatar for hassler Avatar for Lacuna-Synecdoche Avatar for sniffit Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for borisjimbo Avatar for lastroth Avatar for georgemilquetoast Avatar for caltg Avatar for rickjones Avatar for jacksonhts Avatar for castor_troy Avatar for katscherger Avatar for socalista Avatar for redhand Avatar for drtv Avatar for g_k Avatar for outis

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: