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House Republicans add Attorney General Garland, FBI's Wray to payback probes agenda for next session following raid on Trump's Mar-a-Lago home

House Republicans add Attorney General Garland, FBI's Wray to payback probes agenda for next session following raid on Trump's Mar-a-Lago home
  • GOP leaders fold Biden's law enforcement chiefs into their counter-investigation to-do list.

  • Merrick Garland and Chris Wray join House GOP's oversight agenda should they reclaim the majority.

  • Other targets include Speaker Pelosi, January 6 select committee members, and Biden.

GOP leaders tacked Attorney General Merrick Garland and FBI Director Christoper Wray onto the burgeoning list of political foes they plan to investigate should they retake the majority this fall following Monday's politically explosive raid on Donald Trump's winter retreat.

The latest additions join others who've purportedly offended the twice-impeached former president, ranging from members of the January 6 select committee investigating the deadly siege at the US Capitol to current President Joe Biden.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy tossed Garland into the mix for intruding on Trump's beloved Mar-a-Lago estate as part of an ongoing hunt for missing White House records.

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"Attorney General Garland, preserve your documents and clear your calendar," McCarthy wrote in a statement, adding that if Republicans succeed in flipping control of the chamber during the upcoming midterm elections they'd "conduct immediate oversight of this department, follow the facts, and leave no stone unturned."

MAGA-aligned colleagues on both sides of the Capitol condemned Wray — and in some cases, the entire FBI — as well.

Republicans need to retake control of the Democrat-led House or the 50-50 Senate to claim the agenda-setting and subpoena-issuing powers required to fulfill any score-settling mission.

Here's who they've already said they plan to rake over the coals as soon as any congressional gavels switch hands. (The projected targets are listed in alphabetical order.)

January 6 committee members

House Jan 6 panel
House Jan 6 panel

Lawmakers on the House January 6 committee will air the inquiry's findings during a public hearing Thursday.Kent Nishimura / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

The nine members of the bipartisan panel looking into what role Trumpworld played in the 2021 attack on Congress are all fair game as far as Trump and MAGA Republicans are concerned.

GOP leaders may have to summon back retiring Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois or Republican Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, who's facing a Trump-endorsed challenger this fall and has been ostracized by House GOP leaders for criticizing the former president, to punish them for participating in the politically embarrassing inquiry.

California Democrats Adam Schiff and Eric Swalwell should expect to be grilled about alleged evidence tampering and having ties to a suspected Chinese spy, respectively. Either could be called to answer to House Judiciary Committee ranking member Jim Jordan, whom the select committee has subpoenaed to no avail, assuming he becomes chair of the committee next year.

When asked why Democrats should honor any GOP-led investigations after dodging requests to share what they know with the select committee, McCarthy told reporters that "we won't be illegitimate."

At least two of the panel's members — Kinzinger and Rep. Stephanie Murphy, a Florida Democrat — will be private citizens, potentially allowing Republicans to get around concerns about subpoenaing sitting lawmakers.

Hunter Biden

Hunter Biden
Hunter Biden

Hunter BidenDrew Angerer/Getty Images

Republicans have spent years trying to use troubled political scion Hunter Biden as a cudgel against his father. From his business dealings with Ukraine to shocking extramarital affairs, Republicans see loads of dirty laundry to air ahead of Joe Biden's presumed re-election bid in 2024.

Republican Study Committee Chair Jim Banks on Monday wrote that "Jim Jordan led Judiciary Committee hearings in January can't come soon enough" when it comes to picking apart Hunter Biden. Meanwhile, House Oversight and Reform Committee ranking member James Comer has characterized Hunter Biden as a "national security risk" who's at the top of his to-do list.

GOP leaders psyched about training all their oversight weapons on Hunter Biden next year may regret turning on law enforcement today, former Republican Rep. Will Hurd warned those rushing to circle the wagons around Trump.

 

"All the Trump-defending pearl-clutchers better be careful with the words you use about this because they'll be used against you IF the FBI and DOJ actually move on Hunter Biden," Hurd wrote online.

President Joe Biden

biden
biden

President Joe Biden speaks to reporters in the Oval Office of the White House on May 9, 2022.Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene has pushed to impeach Biden since the day after his inauguration.