FBI's history of scandals, controversies fuels Republican skepticism of agency amid Trump raid fallout

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FIRST ON FOX: The FBI's history of scandals and controversies is fueling Republican skepticism of the agency amid the fallout from the raid on former President Trump.

GOP lawmakers expressed their skepticism toward the FBI as the Mar-a-Lago raid becomes the latest black eye on the law enforcement agency.

House Republican Conference chairwoman Elise Stefanik, of New York, had choice words about the raid, telling Fox News Digital the "FBI's unprecedented raid on President Trump is the latest example of this agency's politicization and why the American people's trust in the FBI has eroded."

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House Republican Conference Chair Elise Stefanik of New York blasted the FBI's Mar-a-Lago raid as "the latest example of this agency's politicization and why the American people's trust in the FBI has eroded." (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images)

"The American people are smart, and they know this is the same agency that protected Hillary Clinton, James Comey, continues to protect Hunter Biden, illegally fabricated FISA warrants, knowingly deceived Americans about Russian ‘collusion’ for years, and has stonewalled investigations into the deadly limo crash in Schoharie County in my district," Stefanik said.

"Make no mistake, a Republican majority will increase transparency and accountability into Joe Biden's DOJ and FBI targeting their political opponents," the number three House Republican continued.

Texas Republican Senator Ted Cruz also had thoughts on the FBI’s history, saying the agency’s politicization is "not an accident" and is being "driven because these partizans care more about politics than they do about the rule of law."

"When Trump was running for president, when he was merely the Republican nominee for president, these partisans launched Crossfire Hurricane targeting, investigating, sending wiretaps, sending undercover agents, trying to entrap the Republican nominee for president," Cruz said.

"That was a massive breach," the senator continued. "The DOJ and the FBI are not designed to be the opposition research team for Barack Obama and Joe Biden."

Cruz added that "with respect to Crossfire Hurricane," the DOJ and FBI "were quite literally the oppo team."

Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, said the FBI "has allowed hard partisans to embed into too many of their senior leadership positions." (Reuters)

Cruz also said the "FBI has allowed hard partisans to embed into too many of their senior leadership positions."

"It is a travesty because there are thousands of good and honorable men and women who work at the FBI who risk their lives every day to keep us safe, who are horrified at that agency becoming the political enforcement arm for the DNC." 

The Texas Republican said he is "absolutely" concerned that regular Americans could be targeted by the FBI and Justice Department, pointing to Attorney General Merrick Garland’s memorandum mobilizing the FBI against parents after a letter from the National School Board Association (NSBA) that had been crafted in tandem between the union and the Biden administration.

Cruz also decried the raid in the interview as "political," "partisan," "corrupt," and "an absolute abuse of power," adding that the raid "continues, sadly, a trend we have seen now for over a decade of the [Department of Justice] and the FBI being politicized and weaponized."

The senator said the weaponization of the DOJ began under former President Obama and pulled off "what Richard Nixon tried to do." He also said that the partisans brought in during the Obama administration "burrowed down" into senior roles at their agencies before Biden "fully unleashed" them when coming into power.

"Merrick Garland has already proven to be the most political attorney general we have ever seen," Cruz said. "Right down to sending the FBI to target parents who dare to speak up at school board meetings to treat them as domestic terrorists under the Patriot Act."

Attorney General Merrick Garland has been criticized for his  (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)

The FBI’s recent history has been fraught with black eyes and controversies.

One of the most famous FBI flubs came in the form of former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s email server scandal when the agency declared in 2016 — just weeks before the presidential election — that the former first lady did not do anything wrong after she broke national security protocols by having her emails on a private server.

Thirty-three thousand of Clinton's emails were deleted or washed after being subpoenaed by the FBI.

Another infamous decision by the FBI landed them in hot water with the congressional Republicans who were targeted in the 2017 Congressional Baseball Game shooting.

The FBI labeled the death of a domestic terrorist and supporter of Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., "suicide by cop" after the man shot then-House Majority Whip Steve Scalise, R-La., while trying to kill him and several other GOP lawmakers in Alexandria, Virginia, as they practiced for the charitable baseball game.

Furor erupted from Republicans after the FBI’s designation, forcing the law enforcement agency to update the shooter’s classification as a "domestic violent extremist."

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The lower rungs of the FBI have seen their fair share of controversy as well, such as when a rogue employee with a top secret security clearance hopped on a jet to Syria and married the ISIS terrorist she was assigned to investigate.

Additionally, one cannot forget the letter from the House Judiciary Committee Republicans just a few weeks ago outlining a whistleblower complaint on how the FBI is padding "domestic violent extremist" case data.