Crime / Law / Justice

(Reuters) – For decades, the Republican Party has touted itself as the “Party of Law and Order.” But after Trump was indicted for handling classified documents, nearly all of his rivals in the race for the Republican presidential nomination were forced into political scrutiny by the FBI. It has been criticized for being biased, and some have even called for it to be dismantled.

Many people are stunned by this spectacle. The Republican Party is tough on crime and has a long tradition of being a strong defender of federal and local law enforcement.

Analysts say there are political calculations behind this, given polls that show most Republicans believe Trump was wrongly indicted.

The FBI bashing by most Republican opponents is rooted in Trump’s attacks on the FBI for years. He has long claimed that the FBI and Justice Department are trying to remove him.

“Trump’s FBI attacks are so pervasive among Republican voters that his opponents can’t be any different than him on the subject,” said Kyle Kondik, a bipartisan analyst at the University of Virginia’s Center for Political Science. speaks.

Trump stepped up his attacks on the FBI after taking office. He was angry at being investigated for colluding with Russia during the 2016 presidential election.

The investigation did not prove any collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia. The investigative report, however, found that he had obstructed the investigation, stating that “while it was not concluded that the president committed a crime, he was also not proven innocent.”

Trump’s repeated criticism of the FBI has had a major impact on the polls. A Reuters/Ipsos poll in February 2018 found that three-quarters of Republicans believe the FBI and Justice Department are trying to undermine Trump with a politically motivated investigation.

General Republicans say that the current judiciary system is harsh on the Republican Party and soft on the Democratic Party, and has a constitution of a “double standard.”

Anti-FBI sentiment was also fueled by the FBI’s decision not to prosecute Hillary Clinton, her 2016 Democratic presidential challenger, for using a private email server when she was secretary of state.

＜Political calculation＞

More than 80% of Republicans said the latest indictment against Trump was politically motivated, according to a Reuters/Ipsos poll by Wednesday. It also showed that Trump has an overwhelming lead in the race for the presidential nomination.

Seeing this composition, most rival candidates have calculated that it is safer to attack the FBI and the Department of Justice, at least for the short term.

Most candidates want FBI Director Wray (Republican nominee) to be fired and reorganized. He has accused the Biden administration of “weaponizing” the FBI.

Mr Biden has repeatedly said he was not involved in prosecuting Mr Trump for handling classified documents. He also said the Justice Department is acting fairly.

Presidential historian Timothy Naftali said many Republican candidates are pushing “crime-fighting” and “law and order.” But blaming the Justice Department, not Trump, “has created a tension between his own beliefs and his current reaction to the indictment,” he said.

Florida Governor DeSantis, who is running second in the race for the nomination, criticized the “weaponization” of federal organizations after Trump was indicted. Campaign staff believe that attacking Trump directly over classified documents risks being perceived as opportunistic and out of touch with key Republican voters, according to two people close to the governor. .

DeSantis’ involvement in the issue would likely raise questions about Trump’s ineffectiveness against federal bureaucrats and the “deep state,” according to the two sources. It says.

Some Republican opponents, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie and former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, have taken a more critical stance against Trump.

Haley said Trump acted indiscriminately. But he also said the FBI and the Justice Department had “lost all trust of the American people.”

(Reporters Tim Reid, Nathan Layne, Gram Slattery)