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Floor Speech
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Mrs. BLACKBURN. Mr. President, we know that under Joe Biden and Chris Wray's leadership, the FBI, it turns out, was truly rotten to the core. In many ways, they oversaw the worst political corruption of the justice system in our Nation's history, and now we have proof.
They raided Mar-a-Lago. They indicted President Trump on baseless charges and weaponized America's top law enforcement Agency against conservatives, against parents, and against people of faith.
On Monday, we found out that this abuse of power had reached the Halls of the Congress. Thanks to internal FBI documents provided by Director Patel and Deputy Director Bongino to Chairman Grassley, we now know that the Biden FBI tracked the private communications of eight U.S. Senators, including me.
What we have in common is this: We are all Republicans, we all support President Trump, and we all had questions about the 2020 election.
According to the documents that were given, the FBI tracked who we were calling on our phones, who was calling us, where we were physically located when the calls were made or received, and how long each call lasted. This is an abuse of authority. It is despicable. And we know that their abuses were far greater and more numerous than those abuses toward us.
Earlier this year, Chairman Grassley released whistleblower disclosures showing that the Biden FBI obtained the government-issued cell phones of both President Trump and former Vice President Pence.
Last month, we learned that the Agency launched a political investigation into nearly 100 Republican and conservative groups, including the Republican National Committee, the Republican Attorneys General Association, and Charlie Kirk's Turning Point USA.
We are only learning about this weaponization of government against conservatives because the Trump administration is committed to total transparency for the American people. The work that President Trump, his administration, Attorney General Pam Bondi, Director Patel, and Deputy Director Bongino are doing is so appreciated--not only by us but by the American people.
It is time for the weaponization of government to stop. It is time to make certain that these individuals who did this, who were part of the CR-15 unit that worked with Jack Smith, who were working on Arctic Frost--it is time for them to be fired from their positions. And I appreciate that this work is taking place each and every day. U.S. Department of Justice
Mr. President, yesterday, my colleagues and I who are on the Judiciary Committee had the pleasure of hearing from Attorney General Bondi, who has done so much to restore accountability and transparency at the U.S. Department of Justice.
Instead of waging political investigations, the Department, under her leadership, is focused on enforcing the rule of law, and that includes enforcing the rule of law in Memphis, TN.
As we speak, the Justice Department and FBI are among the 13 Federal Agencies that are on the ground working with local and State officials to support the Memphis Police Department and to lock up violent criminals.
In just over a week of operations, President Trump's Memphis Safe Task Force has delivered tremendous results. As of Monday, authorities have made 321 arrests. This includes 82 who were on ICE warrants, 41 on gun charges, 18 for sex offenses, and 1 for homicide. This is on top of the 503 gang members who were arrested by the FBI in their work from July 15 to September 15.
Having the additional Agencies there is support that has truly been needed in Memphis to sustain this work that is rooting out gangs and criminals.
Last year, the city of Memphis saw the highest crime rate in the country. In some parts of the city, shootings, robberies, and murders were a daily occurrence.
Memphians have long demanded action to address the city's crime crisis, but the Memphis Police Department is short 500 officers, with just over 20 people in their current recruitment class. With Federal law enforcement helping to keep the peace, Memphis police are now empowered to track down repeat violent criminals, including gang members who have terrorized city residents for too long.
At the same time as the Memphis operation, the Trump administration has surged Federal resources to other crime-ridden cities to restore law and order. In Portland and Chicago, ICE agents have had to overcome obstruction efforts by Democrat elected officials. They have had to push back on Democrat elected officials to enforce the rule of law and to detain criminal illegal aliens.
To preserve the hard-fought wins of the Memphis Safe Task Force and Federal law enforcement across the country, we need to make certain that these violent criminals are behind bars. Yet, in too many cases, soft-on-crime prosecutors and judges have allowed violent criminals back on the streets without bail to continue their criminal activity.
Last year, in Memphis, an 18-year-old who was released without bond after stealing multiple vehicles went on to murder a man in an attempted robbery. Just days earlier, a man released without bail after being charged with auto theft and unlawful possession of a weapon killed a Memphis police officer in a shootout.
During a Judiciary Committee hearing that I chaired last week on blue-city chaos and tragedy, State Senator Brent Taylor, who represents parts of Memphis, told me that soft-on-crime prosecutors are the weak link in the work Memphis is trying to do and the work that Memphis law enforcement is trying to do. Their DA is the weak link. After years of senseless violence, we cannot allow the hard work of the Memphis Safe Task Force to go to waste.
To ensure that the rule of law is enforced, I recently introduced the Keep Violent Criminals Off Our Streets Act. This legislation is backed by the White House, and it would ban the award of certain Federal funds to States and localities that limit the use of cash bail.
There must be consequences for these leftist officials who put criminals ahead of law-abiding citizens. There have to be consequences for these prosecutors, these DAs, that continue to practice cashless bail policies. So banning these jurisdictions from having those Federal funds is a way that we can say: Enforce cash bail and get these violent criminals off the streets.
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