Tipsheet

Rep. Dan Crenshaw Weighs in on FBI Raid Against Trump: 'Automatically' Political

Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX) is blasting the FBI for its hasty raid on former President Trump's Mar-a-Lago residence, claiming that the Department of Justice (DOJ) did not act "responsibly." 

When asked by CNN's "State of the Union" host Jake Tapper "if law enforcement is innocent until proven guilty," Crenshaw said that the action by the FBI was "unprecedented." 

"People signing off on it doesn't mean … that it has precedent… it doesn't. This is a very unprecedented measure. And you know that when you're going after an ex-president who may run again that this is automatically political. You cannot separate the legal aspects from the political aspects. You can't," Crenshaw said. 

Saying that the raid on Trump's Florida residence was "automatically" political, Crenshaw questioned why the FBI didn't just ask the former president for the documents instead of publicly going after him while he was away from home. 

"It does seem unjust, and there does seem to be a long history of loss of credibility at the Department of Justice at the hands of Democrats. And I think people are rightfully frustrated about that," Crenshaw told Tapper, trying to understand why officials needed the documents back in the first place. 

This comes after a federal judge said he is considering unsealing portions of the FBI's affidavit used to justify its search, with the DOJ arguing that releasing the information will put its investigation of Trump at risk. 

Meanwhile, Trump is pushing for the un-redacted affidavit's release that led to the search warrant for his Mar-a-Lago home. He said the American people have the right to see the un-redacted affidavit related to the raid.