House lawmakers trade accusations over weaponized federal law enforcement in fiery hearing

House Republicans on Wednesday bashed the former Biden administration for weaponizing the FBI to enforce its political agenda, while Democrats countered that President Trump is remaking the Justice Department into a protection service for his allies.

The fight over which party has deputized federal law enforcement agencies for its ideological aims played out in the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, with Republicans citing several incidents under the previous administration in which the FBI strayed from its crime-fighting mission.  

The agency’s surveillance of parents who challenged gender theory in public schools, the arrests of pro-life activists, and the listing of traditionalist Catholic groups as violent extremists were repeatedly held up by conservative lawmakers as examples of the FBI’s acting on behalf of former President Biden’s political goals.

“Let me be clear: the FBI should be a shield for the American people. Instead, under the Biden-Harris administration, it became a sword to use against them,” said Rep. Jefferson Van Drew, the New Jersey Republican who leads the subcommittee.

Rep. Jim Jordan, Ohio Republican, also pointed to the FBI making it a priority to raid Mr. Trump’s home in Mar-a-lago in 2022, but failed to find out who leaked the Supreme Court’s memo on its pending abortion decision that same year or who brought cocaine into the White House in 2023.

Rep. Jamie Raskin shot back by accusing Mr. Trump of turning the country into a “gangster state” by dismissing standard law enforcement procedures to defend his supporters.

The Maryland Democrat said the Trump administration brokered a deal to help New York City Mayor Eric Adams avoid federal prosecution on corruption charges, and the Republican president granted sweeping pardons for about 1,500 people convicted in the Jan. 6, 2021, riot at the Capitol, including for those who attacked police officers.

“This administration isn’t opposing corruption — it’s opening the door wide open to corruption for its friends,” Mr. Raskin said.

Rep. Jasmine Crockett, Texas Democrat, added that the Trump-backed FBI is redirecting agents investigating child sex crimes to track down the suspects behind the wave of attacks on Tesla vehicles, a company owned by top White House adviser Elon Musk.

But the multiple former FBI agents who testified said they were in favor of reforming the agency following the four years under the Biden White House.

Stewart Whitson, former FBI supervisory special agent who now works for the Florida-based think tank Foundation for Government Accountability, said he supported new agency director Kash Patel’s desire to relocate agents at the dozens of field offices around the country.

He also suggested that Mr. Patel end the diversity-based hiring practices put in place by former director James Comey, who was fired from his post during Mr. Trump’s first term.

Richard Stout, a former FBI special agent and current director of an advocacy group of former agents called Reform the Bureau, said the FBI needs to shift its focus back to cracking down on criminals rather than political opponents.

That was seconded by Nicole Parker, who was also a former FBI special agent and is now a Fox News contributor.