OMAHA, Neb (KMTV) — Defunding law enforcement is a topic that has come up a lot over the last couple of years.
Conservative voters and politicians typically oppose any efforts to defund law enforcement but some are changing their tune when it comes to the FBI.
On Saturday Nebraska Governor Pete Ricketts was recorded by The Undercurrent's Lauren Windsor discussing defunding the FBI.
“What about defunding the FBI though?," said Windsor
“We could do that. Well if we get control of congress we can control the house, so you know," said Ricketts
“Is that going to happen though?," said Windsor.
“I think we will get control of the house, the senate that’s why it's important we get Adam elected the senate is really close, said Ricketts”
Ricketts isn’t the only politician to suggest defunding the FBI since the search.
Florida congressman Matt Gaetz and Georgia congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene are among a group of conservative officials who have suggested defunding or abolishing the FBI altogether.
When asked about his stance at a press conference on Monday Ricketts didn’t go as far as saying the FBI should be defunded but he did renew his calls for more transparency.
“I want to see the transparency. Both the dept of justice and the FBI in recent years have had bad track records on this. So we need more transparency,” said Ricketts.
Not every conservative though is on board with the idea of defunding the FBI.
“I don’t agree with that. I still think we have really decent agents out there who follow the law,” said Iowa Senator Joni Ernst.
Ernst says she shares her colleagues' concerns with the search but said the FBI and its agents were just following orders and that the focus should be turned to the head of the Justice Department.
“They were following the direction of the DOJ. This is more where I question the leadership of the DOJ and attorney general Merrick Garland on how they pushed the FBI to do this,” said Ernst.
The FBI has unsealed the search warrant for Trump’s Mar-A-Lago home but they have not released the affidavit and Attorney General Merrick Garland has said he opposes making it public.
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