U.S. Sen. Josh Hawley (R-MO) has been lambasted by liberals in the weeks since a deadly riot on Capitol Hill earlier this year, with critics accusing him of inspiring an “insurrection” through his challenges of President Joe Biden’s victory.
Despite the backlash, he has continued to sound the alarm about a perceived overreach by federal investigators attempting to get to the bottom of the civil unrest. At least some of his detractors in the mainstream media appear to believe that is because he is “worried” that the feds are coming after him personally.
Critics believe Hawley is “worried”
Hawley — along with several other prominent GOP lawmakers — have voiced their concern that the Jan. 6 riot is being used as a pretext to infringe on the civil liberties of former President Donald Trump’s supporters.
On Tuesday, Hawley questioned FBI Director Christopher Wray about whether pro-Trump rioters are having their social media, financial, or cellphone data collected with proper legal authority.
A segment of MSNBC’s The Beat featuring left-leaning panelists and host Ari Melber appeared to see Hawley’s line of questions as a sign of self-incrimination.
For his part, Melber complained that the senator “tried to go at” the FBI while one guest called the questions “interesting” for “somebody who was smack-dab in the middle of this from the very beginning.”
As national security analyst Malcolm Nance argued, Hawley’s concerns about civil liberties are “insane,” insinuating that the senator is “worried” about how the issue could impact him.
“We work with private-sector partners”
Of course, plenty of Americans are outraged over developments such as Bank of America’s decision to turn over to the FBI the financial information of roughly 200 individuals who purchased items in D.C. around the time of the Capitol building breach.
The FBI has also reportedly gathered cellphone data from lawmakers.
In response to Hawley’s inquiry, Wray replied: “Sitting here right now, I do not know the answer to that question. I do know that we work with private-sector partners, including financial institutions, in a variety of ways all the time in a variety of investigations.”
According to Melber and other Hawley critics, the Missouri Republican is part of a conspiracy — as ostensibly evidenced by his concern about privacy.
One MSNBC panelist made the insinuation clear, asking: “Are you nervous, Josh? Are you nervous that maybe some of your text messages or some of your staff people are out there?”
The post ‘Are you nervous, Josh?’ MSNBC panel mocks Hawley over concerns about FBI probe into Capitol riot first appeared on Conservative Institute.
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