It is rare that any resolution for the sense of the Senate passes with unanimous bipartisan consent – there is always at least one contrarian, i.e., Rand Paul – but on Tuesday Dick Durbin’s Senate Resolution S.R. 775 explicitly condemning rhetoric and violence aimed at FBI employees passed unanimously:
S. RES. S.R. 775
Expressing the sense of the Senate that violence and threats of violence against the employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation are unacceptable and should be condemned.
IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES _____________ Mr. DURBIN submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on _______________.
RESOLUTION
Expressing the sense of the Senate that violence and threats of violence against the employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation are unacceptable and should be condemned.
Whereas, pursuant to a judicially issued warrant, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘FBI’’) searched the residence of former President Donald Trump (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘the former President’’) on August 8, 2022, for classified and national defense information records owned by the United States (referred to in this preamble as ‘‘the search’’);
Whereas, in the days following the search, employees of the FBI and their families have been subjected to threats of violence;
Whereas the threats to employees of the FBI and their families have been inflamed by—
(1) calls from members of Congress to ‘‘destroy the FBI’’ or ‘‘defund the FBI’’;
(2) members of Congress comparing the execution of a lawful warrant by the FBI to the actions of the Nazi Gestapo; and
(3) repeated attacks from the former President, who has called FBI officials, among other insults, ‘‘vicious monsters’’;
Whereas the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security issued an intelligence bulletin warning of a further increase in violent threats and acts of violence against Federal law enforcement officials and facilities following the search;
Whereas these threats include placing a ‘‘dirty bomb’’ outside of FBI headquarters and calls for ‘‘civil war’’ and ‘‘armed rebellion’’;
Whereas the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have also ‘‘observed the personal identifying information of possible targets of violence, such as home addresses and identification of family members, disseminated online [doxxing] as additional targets’’;
Whereas a man wearing body armor and armed with an AR- 15 rifle and nail gun attempted to breach the FBI Cin- cinnati Field Office on August 11, 2022;
Whereas a man was indicted on August 16, 2022, for threat- ening to murder everyone at the FBI, from the Director, to agents, to the custodial staff;
Whereas a man jumped a fence and threw rocks at the FBI Chicago Field Office on August 25, 2022;
Whereas the continued leveling of threats and baseless at- tacks against the FBI will increase the risk of injury or death that employees of the FBI face; and
Whereas the employees of the FBI put their lives on the line every day to protect the communities of the United States and uphold the rule of law: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate—
(1) condemns attacks and threats of violence
against the employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation;
(2) condemns calls from members of Congress to ‘‘destroy the FBI’’ and ‘‘defund the FBI’’;
(3) urges public officials at every level of government to reject and condemn political violence and the threat of political violence, regardless of its motivation;
(4) honors the dedicated service of the employees of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, including their work executing lawful warrants; and
(5) affirms that a founding principle of the United States is that individuals settle differences through the political process, not through the use or threat of violence.
Did you catch that, MAGA/QAnon Insurrection leader Rep. Pul Gosar? The U.S. Senate just condemned you and your fellow Sedition Caucus members who said you want to abolish the FBI because your “Dear Leader’s” home in exile in Mar-a-Lago was searched by the FBI for classified and national defense information records owned by the United States, for what purpose we are yet to discover.
The far-right faction of the Republican party [the Sedition Caucus] is up in arms about the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s search of Mar-a-Lago, calling for the agency to be defunded and destroyed.
Trump ally and Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was one of the first to tweet her disapproval of the search, posting on Twitter: “DEFUND THE FBI!”
She then followed that up with a tweet reading: “Elections are how Americans solve political differences. Not by radicalizing our federal law enforcement to take political enemies out. This is why we must protect election integrity.”
She was joined by other GOP lawmakers who came out against law enforcement in support of Trump.
“The FBI raid on Trump’s home tells us one thing. Failure is not an option,” Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar tweeted. “We must destroy the FBI. We must save America.”
Colorado lawmaker Lauren Boebert tweeted that she wanted the GOP to “set up a Select Committee to investigate the FBI’s politically-motivated raid on Mar-a-Lago and on ALL the fraudulent persecution of President Trump from our government.”
“This cannot wait. We are turning into a banana republic at record speed,” Boebert wrote [says the top banana].
Speaking on Fox News, Rep. Jim Jordan of Ohio called on Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christopher Wray to answer questions at the House Judiciary Committee on Friday.
“What were you really doing? What were you looking for? Why not talk to President Trump and have him give the information you’re after?” Jordan questioned angrily. “This is unbelievable!”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy tweeted a warning to Garland, signaling that a GOP-controlled Congress would investigate the FBI’s search of Trump’s property.
“I’ve seen enough. The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization,” McCarthy tweeted. “When Republicans take back the House, we will conduct immediate oversight of this department, follow the facts, and leave no stone unturned,” McCarthy wrote. “Attorney General Garland, preserve your documents and clear your calendar.”
House Republicans’ calls to defund and destroy a law enforcement organization stands in contrast to legislation their party introduced in May 2021 to “back the blue” in opposition to a progressive push to defund the police. As recently as May 2022, top-ranking Republicans like Rep. Elise Stefanik were still pushing the “back the blue” slogan — something that both Greene and Boebert have themselves staunchly supported.
The congressional lawmakers’ posts join a chorus of conservative voices decrying the FBI’s execution of a search warrant at Mar-a-Lago on Monday. For one, Trump’s 2024 rivals like Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio swooped in to support Trump on Monday.
Sen. Marco Rubio voted to condemn himself. This Teabagger has always been one of the most ridiculous members of the Senate.
Senator “Lil’ Marco”. Puts the “Dubya” in Worm.