Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis is planning to shake up leadership at the Department of Justice and fire any FBI official who violates the civil rights of Americans. During a town hall on Tuesday night, an attendee asked him about his plans to deal with the FBI’s abuse of power, alongside other government agency.
“The Left has weaponized the FBI, DOJ, and the IRS against their political enemies, including President Trump. When you’re president, will there be a reckoning for this abuse of power?” he asked.
DeSantis responded to say that holding government agencies for abuse of power is in his plans for day one.
“We’re going to be ready to go,” he said.
Going further into the reason behind his plan, he said, “Those agencies have become weaponized. I mean, you look at what they’ve done. I mean, I first saw it when I first ran for Congress. I had groups in my district where the IRS was targeting those conservative groups back there in 2012, and it’s like a small nonprofit that’s just talking about the Constitution. Under Obama, they did it, and no one was held accountable for doing that. Then you had the Russia collusion, where they went after President Trump — false theory about stealing the ‘16 election. They kneecapped him any way they could. Nobody was held accountable for that. So you’re going to keep getting these outcomes until you have a president that comes in and drops the hammer.”
DeSantis went on to say that he will replace the FBI director on his first day on the job if he becomes president. In general, he hinted that the U.S. Department of Justice should expect heads to roll.
According to him, ”there’s going to be a reckoning, and not just for those agencies. There’s going to be a reckoning for the agencies that plunged this country into lockdown during COVID — Anthony Fauci, CDC, NIH, all those agencies, FDA, you’re going to see major accountability, because if we want to change the way this government operates, you’ve got to hold the people accountable who are responsible for the madness, and I will do that.”
The GOP presidential candidate later took to X to reiterate his stance. Alongside a video of the event, he tweeted, “If FBI agents are going after parents going to a school board meeting, I’m firing those people. ¸If the FBI is colluding with Big Tech to censor dissent in this country, I’m firing those people. If the FBI is passing around memos saying observant Catholics are potential terrorists, I’m firing those people.”
If FBI agents are going after parents going to a school board meeting, I’m firing those people.
If the FBI is colluding with Big Tech to censor dissent in this country, I’m firing those people.
If the FBI is passing around memos saying observant Catholics are potential… pic.twitter.com/VaNwt86ySC
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) January 9, 2024
DeSantis already said in June 2023 that he would fire current FBI Director Christopher Wray once he is president and appoint a new person for the position.
