At a congressional hearing Tuesday on "Ending the Weaponization of the Justice Department," far-left Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-TX) agreed that the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) was, in fact, weaponized—but not by the Biden administration, whose political enemies were ruthlessly prosecuted and whose cronies got off scot-free.
Crockett, ranking member of the U.S. House Judiciary Subcommittee on Oversight, which held the hearing, claimed that President Donald Trump is actively using the DOJ as a political bludgeon against his opponents.
During her allotted time, Crockett said she, too, is concerned about "a rogue DOJ" and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) "being used for purposes outside of our domestic security."
However, she said, "This phrase, the weaponization of government, is something that has been overly used and repeated by my Republican colleague; they use it as a war cry, a battle call, to justify dismantling federal agencies and the purging of thousands of hardworking, dedicated federal servants."
"If you speak up about the abuses you are seeing or are sharing information that may not fall in line with the political narrative, you will be suspended without pay, have your security clearance revoked, or your life will turned upside down," Crockett continued. "The M.O. is if you don't comply, they will retaliate. If you don't agree with their political agenda, you get suspended. They do it in such a way [as] to deter others from speaking up and speaking out."
She said those are the words of congressional Republicans. "This is what they believe embodies weaponization. I am the first to admit that I don't often agree with many things that my Republican colleagues say but wholeheartedly concur with their descriptions here."
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Crockett caveated: "What concerns me, however, is the inability of my colleagues on the other side to connect the dots that are in front of them while the rest of America is watching as this DOJ weaponization takes hold right before our eyes."
"To be clear: what we are witnessing happening before us satisfies the descriptions used by my Republican colleagues," Crockett claimed.
The congresswoman cited the Trump DOJ's handling of the Eric Adams corruption case, which she said is "ironically riddled with corruption."
"Put differently, the Department of Justice wants Mayor Adams to give fealty to Trump and also use him to execute Trump's immigration policy in New York City," Crockett claimed. "This quid pro quo alone should warrant this subcommittee to investigate the current weaponization of this Department of Justice."
Pivoting, she pointed to Acting Deputy U.S. Attorney General Emil Bove ordering Brian Driscoll, the then-acting director of the FBI, to turn over a list of all current and former FBI staff ever assigned to work on the January 6 cases.
"It is a clear illustration of government abuse targeting employees they wrongfully claim are political adversaries," Crockett claimed. "In fact, rather than utilize the FBI's time and resources to protect America from cyber attacks, terrorism, and other violent crimes, Trump's DOJ is choosing to spend resources to build loyalty to Trump. If that is not government abuse, I just don't know what is."
Crockett then accused the Trump administration of acting against innocents who were simply doing what was asked of them. "They take these tasks on not because of power or politics but because it is quite simply part of the job."
"Where we see commitment to the Constitution and the rule of law, the Trump DOJ sees reason for retribution," she said. "This has already taken shape in various forms."
Crockett also took issue with then-acting U.S. Attorney General James McKenry firing a number of DOJ officials who "played a significant role" in Special Counsel Jack Smith's prosecutions of Trump. "Let me repeat this: They fired DOJ officials who did nothing wrong. These officials simply did their jobs."
Crockett further claimed that the Trump administration is "targeting people of one political persuasion," noting the DOJ has sent several inquiry letters to Democratic members of Congress "for speaking out and criticizing Elon Musk." Rep. Robert Garcia (D-CA) received such a letter from the DOJ for implying that political violence is warranted in order to stop Musk's shakedown of the federal bureaucracy. "And what I think is really important and what the American public want is for us to bring actual weapons to this bar fight," said Garcia, who was asked to clarify his threatening comments toward Musk.
"Our task on this subcommittee today is to conduct real congressional oversight of the Department of Justice because this notion of weaponization is not simply a threat; it is a reality," Crockett warned. "The public is worried. Career attorneys are worried. Congress is worried. The world is worried. Every day that passes, the Department of Justice is losing institutional knowledge and exceptional attorneys because of a blind arrogance and vengeance."
Crockett used her remaining time to defend New York Attorney General Letitia James and Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who were mentioned in subcommittee chairman Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ)'s opening remarks. Earlier this month, Crockett served as mistress of ceremonies on behalf of Willis at her inaugural "For the Love of Justice" ball, where VIP seating cost as much as $25,000 a ticket.
"I do want to point out that each of these women are women that were duly elected in their states, and Fani Willis was just reelected. That is not federal laware," Crockett concluded. "That is not weaponization of the federal government. Both of those women work on the state level."
Later on, during her questioning of the witnesses, Crockett disputed that the January 6 defendants were politically targeted, calling them "lawful" prosecutions.
Can we please expel Jasmine Crockett from Congress for making no sense ever?
— George (@BehizyTweets) February 25, 2025
I can't believe she tried to make the point that the FBI's lawfare agaisnt President Trump's wasn't weaponization because Trump appointed Wray.
Someone tell her it doesn't matter who appointed Wray,… pic.twitter.com/dG3LnkTSpe
On the matter of Trump, she said the FBI wasn't weaponized against Trump because he had appointed now-former FBI Director Christopher Wray, the head of the bureau at the time of his prosecutions.
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