AOC Calls for Investigations Into FBI and DOJ Leaders, Says the Agencies Have Been “Weaponized”
Official portrait, U.S. House Office of Photography
While campaigning in Maine for Troy Jackson, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) used part of her speech to accuse the FBI and the Department of Justice of corruption and to demand investigations into the people who run them.
Her criticism comes as the two agencies pursue a case involving her close ally, Rep. Ilhan Omar. Critics point out that Ocasio-Cortez raised no such objections when the same agencies were investigating Donald Trump.
In her remarks, Ocasio-Cortez called what is happening a "weaponization" of the DOJ and FBI. She argued that the agencies have a long-standing practice of avoiding major actions close to an election, and said the fact that this is unfolding in September and October proves they have been compromised.
She also pointed to what she described as corruption tied to cryptocurrency and "the ballroom," claimed that FBI Director Kash Patel has pushed many experienced investigators out of the bureau, and called the Justice Department's indictments of figures such as Letitia James and Jerome Powell groundless.
"Day one, we need to be opening investigations into the heads of every single one of these agencies, and we need to hold them accountable," she said, adding that she wants subpoenas and investigations.
To her critics, the outrage rings hollow. The same agencies she once had no problem with are suddenly corrupt, they say, now that they are looking into one of her friends.
