Soviet Russia-Born Lawmaker Slams AG Garland: 'FBI Is Starting to Resemble Old KGB'
Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) grills Biden's attorney general over DOJ's anti-parent agenda
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Soviet Russia-born lawmaker Rep. Victoria Spartz (R-IN) grilled Attorney General Merrick Garland during a congressional hearing over the Justice Department's anti-parent agenda under the Biden administration.
During Garland's testimony before a House committee on Thursday, Spartz told the AG that the "FBI is starting to resemble old KGB" under his leadership.
"Mr. Attorney General, as someone who was born in the Soviet Union, I am disturbed, very disturbed, by the use of the Department of Justice as a political tool, and its power as the police state to suppress lawful public discourse,” she said.
"The FBI is starting to resemble old KGB with secret warrantless surveillance, wiretapping, and intimidation of citizens.
"School board [inaudible] is the latest example.”
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"It’s interesting that during the Soviet era, the United States criticized the use of the domestic terrorism concept in the USSR as a tool to suppress free speech and political dissent,” she continued.
"In your recent statement opposing the Texas anti-abortion law, you said it is the foremost responsibility of the Department of Justice to defend the Constitution.
"Do you plan to defend the Second Amendment rights which are explicitly protected by our Constitution as vigorously as you do abortion rights? Yes or no?”
WATCH:
As someone who grew up in the USSR, I’m disturbed that FBI is starting to resemble KGB - intimidation, surveillance, suppression of dissent... AG Garland @TheJusticeDept also didn’t firmly reassure us that they will keep Americans safe in light of the border & Afghanistan crises. pic.twitter.com/92YjAjXhb0
— Rep. Victoria Spartz (@RepSpartz) October 21, 2021
While Garland had been called to testify on the Capitol riot probe, Republicans grilled the attorney general on a number of other issues that had arisen on his watch.
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Spartz later pressed Garland over alleged abuses of FISA warrants by federal law enforcement officials, Biden’s border crisis, and Biden’s disastrous pullout from Afghanistan.
Republicans had serious concerns about a memo issued earlier this month by the attorney general directing the FBI and federal prosecutors to meet with local law enforcement to crack down on parents raising issues to school officials.
GOP lawmakers suggested that Garland's memo cast parents who objected to curriculum decisions and policies related to their kids' health as "domestic terrorists."
Garland rejected the assertions, saying the memo imposed no restrictions on parents who were free to raise questions and disagree on decisions involving their children.
"I do not believe parents should be classified as domestic terrorists," the attorney general said.
He claimed that the FBI and federal prosecutors were concerned only with violence and threats of violence directed at school personnel.
