After backlash to defund police efforts, Dems turn argument on GOP for similar efforts of FBI, DOJ

Democrats are trying to turn the tables on Republicans for their calls to defund the FBI and Justice Department, after the GOP criticized them for trying to defund police after George Floyd died as a result of a 2020 police arrest. 

“Honest to God, they run a campaign against Democrats saying we want to defund the police, and then they turn around and want to defund the FBI and Department of Justice," Illinois Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin recently said about Republicans' idea of using the appropriations process take money away from the Justice Department. "It just shows how radical the MAGA Republicans can be." 

Durbin, the chamber's No. 2 Democrat, made the comment before former President Trump was indicted Tuesday on 37 criminal charges in connection with his handling of classified documents after his time in the White House.

Supporters suggest the effort, led by Justice Department special counsel Jack Smith, is a blatant political attempt to derail Trump's bid to seek the 2024 GOP presidential nomination.  

Prior to Durbin's comment, Senate Democrat leader Chuck Schumer denounced Trump for calling for the defunding of the FBI and Justice Department.

GOP calls to defund the department, under which the FBI operates, appeared to begin in earnest when the FBI raided Trump's Mar-a-Lago home in Florida in August 2022 to look for the documents. And they reached near crescendo last Thursday when Trump announced that he would be indicted. 

Within hours, Georgia GOP Rep. Mike Collins tweeted about how earlier this year he cosponsored legislation to abolish the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Education Department and that "Abolishing the corrupt @FBI and @TheJusticeDept sounds even better. #BananaRepublic”

That same day, Arizona GOP Rep. Andy Biggs tweeted: "We ought to defund and dismantle the DOJ. I stand with President Trump.” 

Democrats' calls for defunding the police swelled amid the Black Lives Matter protests that followed Floyd's death and were led by the leaders of the party's most progressive branch, such as Reps. Cori Bush, of Missouri, and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, of New York.

However, those calls were not widely supported by the leaders of the party, and they faded as violent crime rose during the pandemic and became a 2020 election issue. 

Former New York Police Department Commissioner Bernie Kerik, told Just the News on Wednesday that the politicization of federal law enforcement is concerning to him. 

“Unfortunately, and perhaps, with disbelief, the American people have witnessed over the last year to two years that any reason they may have to not trust the Justice Department and the FBI has been more than substantiated,” he said. “We can call for defunding of the FBI and DOJ now. But I do doubt that’s gonna happen."

He also argued that congressional oversight panels should "make a strong recommendation to Congress that a complete assessment be done of DOJ and the FBI to determine the extent of the political infiltration within and what it would take to reconstitute both agencies. ... It can be done, and whether it’s done by Congress or for the next White House, it’s going to have to be done.” 

Mark Lamb, the sheriff of Arizona's Pinal County who is running for U.S. Senate, said Friday in a video posted on Twitter: “I believe in the rule of law, and I believe in the justice system, and I believe in evidence. That's what my career has been based on. So I'm a little bit disturbed by this most recent indictment of President Trump.  

“It just again shows why us Americans feel like the federal government, and especially law enforcement at the federal level, has been weaponized against the American people. And this should be concerning to all of us."