Dem: US enemies ‘in their wildest dreams’ wouldn’t imagine president attacking FBI

Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.) on Thursday ripped President Trump’s attacks on the FBI, arguing enemies of the United States would never have dreamed a U.S. leader would attack the nation’s federal law enforcement authorities.

“The enemies of the United States — name them, North Korea, Iran, Russia — in their wildest dreams they would never imagine that the president of the United States would tar and eviscerate the FBI, the DOJ, the CIA,” Himes said during an interview on CNN, referring to the Department of Justice and two intelligence agencies.

{mosads}”These are all institutions that our enemies hate because they keep us safe, because they do the hard work of American national security.

“The president — since he became president a year ago — has gone out of his way to damage not just the morale, but the standing of these institutions in the American peoples’ mind,” he said.

Trump argues that officials within the FBI have exhibited a bias against him, and that the bureau failed in not bringing charges against Hillary Clinton when it investigated her use of a private email server as secretary of State. He has further argued political interference in investigations into last year’s election, including of collusion between Moscow and the Trump campaign.

Robert Mueller, the special counsel leading the probe of the election, is a former FBI director.

Trump fired former FBI Director James Comey and has publicly lashed out at current Deputy Director Andrew McCabe, who he argues is biased given political donations his wife took from a political action committee close to Bill and Hillary Clinton. McCabe worked with Comey on the Clinton probe.

Reports this past weekend said McCabe is looking to retire from the bureau in the coming months, as the No. 2 FBI official faces heated criticism from Republican lawmakers and the president himself.

Trump has repeatedly referred to the Russia probe as a “witch hunt” and has denied collusion.