Rep. Cheney lashes out at GOP colleagues for ‘attacking the integrity of the FBI’ after Mar-a-Lago raid

House Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) lashed out at her Republican colleagues on Thursday over their verbal attacks on the Federal Bureau of Investigation for its execution of a search warrant at the personal residence of former president Donald Trump this week.

“I have been ashamed to hear members of my party attacking the integrity of the FBI agents involved with the recent Mar-a-Lago search,” Cheney wrote on Twitter. “These are sickening comments that put the lives of patriotic public servants at risk.”

Since Monday’s search of Mar-a-Lago, which drew ire from the former president who was out-of-state at the time of the raid, Republicans have spoken out against the intelligence agency, accusing the FBI of carrying out a politically-motivated attack on Trump.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) pledged a full investigation into the FBI if Republicans take control of the House in the midterm elections. “The Department of Justice has reached an intolerable state of weaponized politicization,” McCarthy wrote. “When Republicans take back the House, we will conduct immediate oversight of this department, follow the facts, and leave no stone unturned.”

Other Republicans called for the complete abolishment of the FBI over its Mar-a-Lago search. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene wrote, “DEFUND THE FBI!” on Twitter just after the news of the raid broke on Tuesday. Arizona Representative Paul Gosar railed against the FBI on Tuesday, as well. “The FBI raid on Trump’s home tells us one thing,” Gosar Tweeted. “Failure is not an option. We must destroy the FBI. We must save America. I stand with Donald J. Trump.”

United States Attorney General Merrick Garland responded to the attacks on the FBI in a surprise press conference on Thursday. “The men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated, patriotic public servants,” he said. “Every day they protect the American people from violent crime, terrorism, and other threats to their safety while safeguarding our civil rights.”