Flake: I’m concerned by Republican attacks on law enforcement officials
Jan 28, 2018, 4:48 PM | Updated: 5:42 pm
Sen. Jeff Flake, R-Ariz., listens to a question from a reporter before a Senate procedural vote to reopen the government, Monday Jan. 22, 2018, on day three of the government shutdown on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
(AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
PHOENIX — U.S. Sen. Jeff Flake said he is concerned about the attacks that some members of the Republican Party are making toward the Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
According to The Huffington Post, some Republicans have attacked the bureau in an effort to undermine a special counsel investigation into President Donald Trump about any possible collision with Russian officials.
The latest examples of this effort dealt with a text message from an FBI official joking about a “secret society” and tech issue that resulted in the deletion of several text messages between two FBI employees.
Some Republicans have used those events to peddle conspiracy theories and said they prove “shocking,” “sickening,” “jaw-dropping” law enforcement conduct that was “worse than Watergate,” according to the publication.
But Flake is not amused by these claims, saying they hurt the party’s cause rather than help it.
“Unhelpful and unhealthy,” Flake told the publication about the attacks on law enforcement officials.
“Obviously, not everyone who works for the FBI is always above board. But when you throw some blanket conspiracy over the organization, you make it more difficult to actually focus on causes where there might be an issue.”
Flake, who has butted heads with the president in the past, said the attacks are being “perpetrated by politicians who are ‘ingratiating [themselves] to the president.'”
“I think all of us are ― well, not all of us, but most of us ― are very troubled,” he added.
