Hutchinson: FBI ‘simply carrying out their responsibilities’ with Mar-a-Lago search

Republican Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson on Sunday defended the FBI’s execution of a search warrant at former President Trump’s Mar-a-Lago residence, saying critics in the GOP need to “pull back on casting judgment.”

“The FBI is simply carrying out their responsibilities under the law, a lawful search warrant that a magistrate signed off on. And they didn’t go in there with FBI raid jackets. They tried to constrain their behavior carrying out that warrant,” Hutchinson said on CNN’s “State of the Union,” calling on fellow Republicans to “stand with” law enforcement. 

“If the GOP is going to be the party of supporting law enforcement, law enforcement includes the FBI,” he added.

Hutchinson said Attorney General Merrick Garland “did the right thing” by asking a judge to unseal the search warrant Friday but added he has outstanding concerns and questions about Monday’s search and the classified documents reportedly found by the FBI. 

“There is some urgency in it because this is unprecedented, the search of a former president’s home. The American public wants to understand that,” Hutchinson said.

“The biggest question is why and how. Why were those documents there? Why did the White House believe that they wanted them there, presumably, if that was the case?” he added.

The Arkansas governor also defended Republicans who have called the search politically motivated and pressured the Department of Justice to release more information. 

Republicans, he said, “see the establishment is going after Donald Trump, and they question whether that was the right move and whether there was less intrusive means to accomplish the same purpose.”