Nashville Standard

United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies (CJS), pressed Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Director Christopher Wray on what he described as the political weaponization of the justice system to prosecute former President Donald Trump. The hearing took place amid simultaneous prosecutions of Trump in five separate jurisdictions by Democrat prosecutors.

“Here we have a situation that’s unprecedented,” Hagerty stated. “No former president, no major candidate for president, has ever been prosecuted criminally in American history. Yet now we have a situation where the incumbent president’s major opponent is being prosecuted in five separate jurisdictions, all by Democrat partisan prosecutors, and all of this culminating right in the middle of an election season.”

Hagerty questioned whether these actions could be seen as coordinated election interference or mere coincidence. Director Wray declined to respond directly.

“What we saw happen last week was [Manhattan District Attorney] Alvin Bragg, who ran on a platform of getting Trump, do just that, with a flimsy, made-up theory and a criminal conviction,” Hagerty continued. “Just this weekend, the leader of the Soros Organization came out and advised Democrats to repeat the slogan ‘convicted felon,’ so it could be imprinted on voters’ minds. Alvin Bragg facilitated that imprint and did just that.”

Hagerty reiterated his question about whether this constituted coordinated election interference or was coincidental. Director Wray again refused to answer.

The senator also noted that New York Attorney General Letitia James campaigned on prosecuting Trump and highlighted a New York Times report indicating President Biden wanted his main political rival prosecuted. Subsequently, Attorney General Merrick Garland appointed Special Counsel Jack Smith, who charged Trump in two different places.

“The way the legal stars have aligned in this circumstance is deeply concerning not only to me but to the American people," Hagerty said. "And I just stepped through several situations where it certainly appears there is a coordinated effort to go after the President’s main political rival. And it’s happening—all of these are convening right at the same time, right in the middle of an election year."

He concluded by emphasizing his belief that such circumstances warrant FBI investigation.