Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) urged Congress to bolster federal law enforcement on Tuesday.
This news follows the FBI’s raid of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate months back as well as his recent arraignment, which is unprecedented in American politics.
Remarks by McConnell essentially calling to send more taxpayer money to the FBI and other government agencies came after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) put forth a resolution calling for the full funding of federal law enforcement.
“I can pretty safely say I have not met any Republicans in Congress who want to spend less on law enforcement,” McConnell reportedly said in reaction to the proposal. “The last thing we want to do is spend less. We ought to be looking for ways to spend more.”
Many are not surprised by this response. As was noted by The Federalist, McConnell has been pretty quiet about Trump’s indictment from the Manhattan district attorney. This was also highlighted by USA TODAY, which noted Tuesday that McConnell recently dodged a question about the matter.
The charges the former president faces are massive; Trump has pleaded not guilty to a 34-part felony indictment that could land him in prison for 136 years.
That lengthy potential sentence is tied to hush money payments Trump allegedly made to porn star Stormy Daniels.
McConnell has been known to side with federal agencies on a myriad of occasions; the Senate minority leader infamously referred to Fox News host Tucker Carlson’s segment revealing never-before-seen footage from the protests at the U.S. Capitol building on Jan. 6, 2021 as a “mistake.”
BREAKING: Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell calls it a "mistake" for Tucker Carlson and Fox News to release the never-before-seen J6 footage. pic.twitter.com/8d2c75Z3eK
— Charlie Kirk (@charliekirk11) March 7, 2023
Meanwhile, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT), who is notorious among many conservatives for being the sole Republican in the upper chamber to back Trump’s impeachment twice, slammed the indictment as an “overreach” that “sets a dangerous precedent for criminalizing political opponents.” The Utah Senator emphasized that he believes this despite his opinion that Trump’s character and conduct deem him unfit for office.
Others who, unlike McConnell, condemned the charges against Trump include various potential contenders for the 2024 Republican presidential primary, such as Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R), former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley (R), and former Vice President Mike Pence.
