Special counsel John Durham's report on the investigation of former President Donald Trump's 2016 campaign and Russian collusion shows that a change in leadership might be needed in the FBI and other government law enforcement agencies, Sen. Joni Ernst said Tuesday on Newsmax.
"I think this is very difficult and we almost need to see a whole new level of leadership in these agencies in order to effect change," the Iowa Republican told Newsmax's "John Bachman Now," when asked if the FBI can handle its problems under Director Christopher Wray.
"We need people brought in from the outside that are impartial and will do the right thing regardless of who's in charge at the White House," Ernst said.
Durham's report, which found that the FBI didn't have the evidence to investigate claims of Russian interference in the 2016 election, "validates exactly what we've believed all along," Ernst said.
"It's just very unfortunate because the American people really have come not to trust these institutions, and that's that's a horrible situation to be in," she said. "These are the people that should be out there protecting us, investigating thoroughly in the federal government and otherwise, and yet there is no level of trust left anymore."
Ernst said she believes no accountability is coming as a result of the report, as the country is "trapped" with President Joe Biden's appointees throughout the nation's law enforcement agencies.
"We know that they will do very little on their own to investigate or hold accountable those people that are responsible for this, and Americans are really upset," said Ernst.
Ernst is currently on a 99-county tour of Iowa and said that in town halls, she's being asked why there is no accountability.
"It's hard to do that in Congress when you have Democrats in charge in the Senate," said Ernst. "The House will do many investigations, but, unfortunately, it has to be the executive branch and the judiciary that are initiating these prosecutions, and I just don't see that happening with a president as corrupt as Joe Biden."
Ernst also commented on the situation at the U.S.-Mexico border now that the Title 42 pandemic expulsion rule has ended, saying that there is still a "catastrophe" happening because of the import of the deadly painkiller fentanyl.
"Every day we lose 196 Americans to fentanyl overdose deaths," she said, saying she and Sen. Tim Kaine, D-Va., are leading an effort toward declaring the drug to be a national security threat.
If the declaration is achieved, the Department of Defense's capabilities can be used, in partnership with the Mexican military and U.S. law enforcement, to fight back against the cartels that are smuggling fentanyl into the country.
"We're losing nearly 200 Americans every single day to these overdose deaths, and we have got to take charge of this," Ernst said. "We can do that through the Department of Defense."
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Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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