By Gregory Svirnovskiy The Arizona Republic
Just before 9 p.m. Monday, hours after it was announced that FBI agents had searched former President Donald Trump’s residence at Mar-a-Lago for documents illegally brought from the White House, close Trump ally Paul Gosar had something to say.
In five lines of text, Gosar, R-Ariz., invalidated a federal investigation, professed his continued alliance with Trump and called for the destruction of the FBI.
It’s a stark turn from conventional party rhetoric. Trump liked to bill himself as a “law and order” president; his supporters say they “back the blue.” Gosar’s official Twitter account contains more than 50 deferential references to local and federal law enforcement.
But he’s long agitated against the FBI, in 2020 falsely tweeting that former President Barack Obama used the agency to spy on then-candidate Trump, poking out unsubstantiated links between FBI officials and Democratic officeholders.
Now, he’s advocating for abolition.
“Um…what? This tweet is disturbing,” said Twitter user Kyle Cowan, an author and law school student.
“Okay. Be disturbed,” Gosar replied. “We’re going to dismantle and eliminate the FBI.”
