Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, has been criticized for calling out Republicans who want to reimburse the FBI after the raid on former President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home, but said the backlash was extreme and unfair. “If you’re an internet troll, you might think I defended the FBI. But if you’re a thinking person, then you know, I didn’t,” Crenshaw told Fox News Digital in an exclusive interview this week. Crenshaw, who has faced criticism from some in the GOP for his stance on the FBI after the raid, says he has been clear that he believes the FBI’s actions in raiding Trump, allegedly for classified documents, were unfair. “This is clearly a political move. It’s clear they could have asked Donald Trump for the documents if they wanted them so badly, but there’s no evidence that they did. That’s what I’ve been saying over and over again. Now, that’s not the case. “I mean I want to defund the FBI, and if you want to defund the FBI, then I can point you to the Democratic Party because they also want to defund the police,” Crenshaw said. Rep. Dan Crenshaw during his interview with Fox News Digital. (Fox News) TRUMP MAR-A-LAGO RAID: FLORIDA JUDGE SAYS PART OF AFFIDAVIT RELATING TO RAID CAN BE UNSEALED Crenshaw and Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga., have clashed over calls to “defund the FBI” after the raid, and he said he’s tired of the criticism he’s faced — which includes the so-called RINO (Republican Only in name ) and compared to the late Republican Sen. John McCain, a frequent target of Trump’s ire. “I’m sick of these extremes and this nonsense being said, the lies being spread about me. It’s all BS and we all know it,” Crenshaw told Fox. “Don’t agree with the Democrats on defunding the police. … You can hold them accountable and you can be, you can have righteous indignation, righteous anger. And what happened in Mar-a-Lago has actually brought everyone together aspects of the Republican Party because we all know it was unfair.” FBI’S POLITICISATION OF TRUMP RAID COULD HAVE NATIONAL SECURITY IMPLICATIONS, FORMER AGENT WARNS Crenshaw said that to restore faith in the FBI there must be transparency, which he and others hope to provide if the GOP wins control of the House in the midterm elections. “We’re going to make a lot of skips like [Republican Minority Leader] Kevin McCarthy said – Merrick Garland, you better get your parking spot ready, you better save all your documents, because there will be a lot of oversight when we take over the House. This is exactly the right move.” The FBI entered Trump’s home in Palm Beach, Fla., on August 8 with a search warrant to search Trump’s records, and the subsequent seizure evidence indicates that classified and top secret documents were among the boxes stored in the residence. CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP The warrant, however, with the probable cause justifying the search has not been made public, and Trump’s lawyers plan to continue urging the courts to make it public. Several Republican politicians called for disbanding the FBI after the raid, which effectively united the right in condemning the FBI’s move as political persecution. Thomas Phippen is a contributor at Fox News.
