Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., the only former FBI agent to serve in Congress, cautioned the public Tuesday against embracing an anti-FBI mentality following the raid of former President Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago home, warning of national security implications if Americans turn their backs on the bureau.
In an interview on "America Reports," Fitzpatrick said the release of the affidavit that was used to justify the search on Trump's Florida home is necessary to restore the public's diminishing faith in law enforcement as questions emerge about the FBI's impartiality in the days since the raid.
"What we want to see is, why did they choose the most extreme, risky, and high profile evidence collection technique," the lawmaker said. "Does the evidence match that up? That exists one place and one place only, and that’s in the affidavit."
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Fitzpatrick said that the increasing anti-FBI rhetoric has "tremendously" hindered the FBI's ability to do its job.
"Every single FBI agent's job is more difficult than it was last week because FBI agents cannot do their job without the support of the public," he said. "We need cooperators to work with us to help us introduce undercover agents in criminal networks. We need the public when we go door-knocking in neighborhoods to invite us in and share information with us. If that goes away, if we have a situation where every other door we knock on gets slammed in our face because of politics, our national security apparatus is undermined at that point and that’s what I worry about."
"And that’s yet another reason why it’s important that this affidavit get released because if there was justification, the public should know that," Fitzpatrick added. "If this was an overreach, the public should know that."
A bulletin from the Department of Homeland Security and FBI warned that the agencies have seen an increase in "violent threats" against law enforcement, judiciary and government personnel, including a particular threat to "place a so-called Dirty Bomb in front of FBI headquarters" in the days following the FBI raid.
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"General calls" for "civil war" and "armed rebellion" have also increased in recent days on social media.
Fitzpatrick urged the public to respect the integrity of FBI agents and law enforcement officials "across the board."
"Federal law enforcement agents are now put at risk. That's wrong. It is never okay. Violence is never okay," he said. "Threats to law enforcement are never okay. That's not what our country is about. So that's number one and most important."
Fitzpatrick lived in Ukraine during his time as an FBI agent. He worked with Ukrainian law enforcement and government on anti-corruption, cyber security and counterintelligence efforts to counter Russia.
