PALM BEACH, Florida — As if he forgot to which political party he belongs, former Vice President Mike Pence on Wednesday blasted Republicans who are slamming the Federal Bureau of Investigation for its raid on President Donald Trump’s home in Florida last week.
“The Republican Party is the party of law and order,” Pence told the “Politics & Eggs” breakfast at St. Anselm College in Manchester, New Hampshire. “And these attacks on the FBI must stop; calls to defund the FBI are just as wrong as calls to defund the police.”
Trump’s VP indicated he was “deeply troubled” to learn of the search warrant at Mar-a-Lago, but said Merrick Garland, the U.S. attorney general, could be held accountable “without attacking the rank-and-file law enforcement personnel at the FBI.”
“The truth of the matter is, we need to get to the bottom of what happened,” Pence said.
“We need to let the facts play out, but more than anything else, the American people need to be reassured in the integrity of our justice system and the very appearance of a recurrence of politics playing a role in decisions that the Justice Department demands transparency as never before.”
His comments come in the wake of top Republicans torching the bureau for its action.
U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., called the search “a complete abuse and overreach of its authority,” while Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., wants the FBI defunded.
Trump himself has said the raid was “an assault on a political opponent at a level never seen before in our Country. Third World!”
At the same political breakfast, Pence said he was possibly willing to testify before the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, protest at the U.S. Capitol.
“If there was an invitation to participate, I would consider it,” Pence said, calling Jan. 6 of last year a tragic day for all Americans.
“But you’ve heard me mention the Constitution a few times this morning. In the Constitution there are three co-equal branches of government, and any invitation that would be directed to me I’d have to reflect on the unique role I served as vice president.”
“It would be unprecedented in history for a vice president to be summoned to testify on Capitol Hill. But, as I said, I don’t want to pre-judge, so if there’s ever any formal invitation rendered to us, we would give it due consideration.
“But my first obligation is to continue to uphold my oath, continue to uphold this framework of government enshrined in the Constitution, this created the greatest nation in the history of the world.”
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