{"id":2375531,"date":"2024-12-02T14:48:01","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T19:48:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mike-rounds-defense-of-fbi-corruption-is-an-act-of-cowardice\/"},"modified":"2024-12-02T14:49:04","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T19:49:04","slug":"mike-rounds-defense-of-fbi-corruption-is-an-act-of-cowardice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mike-rounds-defense-of-fbi-corruption-is-an-act-of-cowardice\/","title":{"rendered":"Mike Rounds&#8217; Defense Of FBI Corruption Is An Act Of Cowardice"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmike-rounds-defense-of-fbi-corruption-is-an-act-of-cowardice%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2375531&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>in a recent interview on ABC News&#8217; &#8220;This Week,&#8221; South Dakota Senator Mike Rounds discussed\u200d President-elect Donald Trump&#8217;s nomination of \u200cKash Patel to lead\u200d the FBI. Rounds defended Trump&#8217;s right to choose his nominees but praised current FBI\u2064 Director\u2062 Christopher Wray,\u2063 stating he has no complaints about\u2062 Wray&#8217;s\u2063 performance. This has raised\u2063 questions about Wray&#8217;s tenure, particularly concerning\u200d his involvement in various controversies, including the russia investigation and the handling of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/n-y-increases-patrols-near-jewish-sites-amid-security-threats\/\" title=\"N.Y. boosts security near Jewish sites due to threats.\">sensitive political matters<\/a>. Critics argue that Rounds&#8217; support for Wray reflects a broader issue of accountability within the FBI. the\u200c conversation highlights ongoing tensions surrounding \u200cTrump&#8217;s administration and its implications for the FBI&#8217;s future.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>In the world of politics, common sense is pretty hard to come by these days &mdash; just ask South Dakota&rsquo;s Mike Rounds. <\/p>\n<p>On Sunday, the Republican senator <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Politics\/week-transcript-12-1-24-white-house-national\/story?id=116341524\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">appeared<\/a> on ABC News&rsquo; &ldquo;This Week&rdquo; to discuss a variety of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/10-ways-to-save-the-modern-awards-show\/\" title=\"10 Ways To Save The Modern Awards Show\">hot-button issues<\/a> with program co-anchor <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/jonathan-karl\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Jonathan Karl<\/a>, including President-elect Donald Trump&rsquo;s nomination of Kash Patel to be the next director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). In his announcement, the incoming president <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/news\/politics\/trump-fbi-pick-kash-patel-should-take-these-concrete-steps-to-restore-trust-former-special-agent\/ar-AA1v6Tlc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">praised<\/a> Patel as &ldquo;a brilliant lawyer, investigator, and &lsquo;America First&rsquo; fighter who has spent his career exposing corruption, defending Justice, and protecting the American People.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>In an apparent attempt to gin up opposition to Patel&rsquo;s nomination, Karl, a <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/09\/03\/republicans-stop-expecting-good-faith-debates-with-media-propagandists-and-do-this-instead\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">left-wing hacktivist<\/a>, asked Rounds if he was &ldquo;surprised&rdquo; by Trump&rsquo;s pick and whether the selection concerns &ldquo;concern[s]&rdquo; him. While the South Dakota senator <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Politics\/week-transcript-12-1-24-white-house-national\/story?id=116341524\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">defended<\/a> the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-cant-deny-responsibility-for-our-so-so-divided-nation\/\" title=\"Biden Can\u2019t Deny Responsibility For Our \u2018So, So Divided\u2019 Nation\">president-elect&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s constitutional right &ldquo;to decide who he wants to offer a nomination for,&rdquo; he gave cover for the FBI&rsquo;s corrupt behavior by cheerleading the disgraceful tenure of Director <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/christopher-wray\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Christopher Wray<\/a>. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I think [Trump] picked a very good man to be the director of the FBI when he did that in his first term,&rdquo; Rounds said of Wray. &ldquo;When we meet with him behind closed doors, I&rsquo;ve had no objections to the way that he&rsquo;s handled himself. And so I don&rsquo;t have any complaints about the way that he&rsquo;s done his job right now.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>To <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/10\/14\/do-you-hear-yourself-vance-blasts-abc-host-for-trivializing-violent-gang-invasion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">echo<\/a> Vice President-elect J.D. Vance, does Mike Rounds hear himself?<\/p>\n<p>In exactly what ways has Christopher Wray shown himself to be a &ldquo;good man&rdquo; worthy of keeping his job?<\/p>\n<p>Under Wray, the FBI&rsquo;s baseless <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/15\/any-assassination-investigation-that-includes-merrick-garland-or-chris-wray-is-a-coverup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Russia collusion hoax<\/a> was allowed to go on unabated. He also presided over the agency&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/06\/09\/fbi-official-in-charge-of-mar-a-lago-raid-said-feds-breached-protocol-in-repeat-russia-collusion-hoax-fashion\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">unprecedented raid<\/a> of Trump&rsquo;s Mar-a-Lago estate and permitted it to pressure social media companies to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/06\/22\/fbi-knew-hunter-bidens-laptop-was-authentic-a-year-before-pressuring-big-tech-to-censor-it\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">censor<\/a> the New York Post&rsquo;s Hunter Biden laptop story ahead of the 2020 election to the benefit of Joe Biden.<\/p>\n<p>In addition, Wray has overseen the FBI&rsquo;s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/12\/06\/wray-misdirects-congress-over-fbis-burying-of-credible-biden-bribery-report\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">burying<\/a> of information that implicated the Biden family&rsquo;s foreign business dealings; <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/06\/11\/fbi-interrogates-co-workers-about-whistleblowers-views-on-covid-vax-trump-and-second-amendment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">purging<\/a> of pro-Trump agency officials; <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/07\/18\/jordan-warns-wray-produce-docs-on-fbi-bullying-of-catholics-and-concerned-parents-or-be-held-in-contempt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">targeting<\/a> of Catholics and parents at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/maryland-school-district-announces-policy-to-push-anti-racist-thinking-in-preschool-redefine-discrimination-and-racism\/\" title=\"Maryland School District Announces Policy to Push \u2018Anti-Racist Thinking\u2019 In Preschool, Redefine \u2018Discrimination\u2019 and \u2018Racism\u2019\">school board meetings<\/a> as potential domestic terrorists; <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/15\/any-assassination-investigation-that-includes-merrick-garland-or-chris-wray-is-a-coverup\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">concocting a plot<\/a> to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer; <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/09\/03\/manifesto-reveals-trans-identifying-nashville-shooters-disdain-for-christianity-obsession-with-racial-politics\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">concealing<\/a> of a trans-identifying Christian school shooter&rsquo;s manifesto; and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/12\/15\/meet-the-j6-defendant-standing-up-against-a-doj-bent-on-collecting-heads\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">targeting<\/a> of <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/16\/j6-praying-grandma-slammed-with-six-figure-fine-and-probation-for-walking-around-capitol\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">peaceful<\/a> Jan. 6 protestors.<\/p>\n<p>This list doesn&rsquo;t even include Wray&rsquo;s personal efforts to <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2023\/06\/05\/james-comer-announces-contempt-hearings-for-fbi-director-christopher-wray\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">stonewall<\/a> Congress to seemingly hide information on the Bidens&rsquo; overseas business operations and <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/07\/29\/the-left-is-trying-to-memory-hole-trumps-assassination-attempt\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">further<\/a> leftists&rsquo; conspiracy theory that Trump wasn&rsquo;t hit by a bullet during the first assassination attempt in Butler, Pennsylvania, earlier this year. <\/p>\n<p>But Rounds&rsquo; pathetic simping for Wray and the country&rsquo;s most <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">corrupt agency didn&#038;rsquo<\/a>;t stop there. <\/p>\n<p>When <a href=\"https:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Politics\/week-transcript-12-1-24-white-house-national\/story?id=116341524\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">asked<\/a> by Karl if he believes it&rsquo;s &ldquo;a mistake&rdquo; for Trump to give Wray the pink slip and why he thinks the incoming president is &ldquo;determined to fire the FBI director, let alone one that he nominated in the first place,&rdquo; the South Dakota Republican waffled. Rather than dismantle the dishonestly framed question using any of the aforementioned examples of FBI corruption under Wray, Rounds simply regurgitated the talking point that Trump has the right to appoint whoever he wants.<\/p>\n<p>The Senate &ldquo;will give a benefit of the doubt to the president with any one of his nominees, but then we have a constitutional role to play in that we &mdash; we provide advice and consent,&rdquo; Rounds said.<\/p>\n<p>That Rounds &mdash; who represents a state Trump won by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.com\/2024-election\/results\/south-dakota\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">nearly 30 points<\/a> last month &mdash; is defending Wray&rsquo;s destructive leadership is unconscionable. Then again, it&rsquo;s not surprising given his track record of shilling for the establishment. <\/p>\n<p>According to <a href=\"https:\/\/heritageaction.com\/scorecard\/members\/R000605\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Heritage Action<\/a>&lsquo;s congressional scorecard, in the last session alone, Rounds has supported <a href=\"https:\/\/heritageaction.com\/scorecard\/votes\/s154-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shipping<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/heritageaction.com\/scorecard\/votes\/s41-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">billions<\/a> of U.S. taxpayer dollars to Ukraine, <a href=\"https:\/\/heritageaction.com\/scorecard\/votes\/s148-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reauthorizing<\/a> federal spying tools previously weaponized to spy on Trump&rsquo;s 2016 campaign, and approving <a href=\"https:\/\/heritageaction.com\/scorecard\/votes\/s114-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">major<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/heritageaction.com\/scorecard\/votes\/s84-2024\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">spending packages<\/a> that <a href=\"https:\/\/heritageaction.com\/scorecard\/votes\/s146-2023\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">have<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/heritageaction.com\/scorecard\/votes\/s284-2023\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">increased<\/a> the U.S. national debt. South Dakota&rsquo;s junior senator also had to be <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/09\/12\/south-dakotas-pro-life-politicians-notoriously-silent-on-extremist-abortion-amendment\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">shamed<\/a> into voicing opposition to the radical pro-abortion amendment that appeared on his state&rsquo;s ballot earlier this year.<\/p>\n<p>But don&rsquo;t expect to hear Rounds tout any of these votes or his glowing views of Wray during a prospective 2026 reelection bid. Like many of his GOP colleagues, he&rsquo;ll continue to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.yahoo.com\/news\/gop-senator-introduces-bill-eliminate-233558750.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">throw red meat<\/a> bills that have little to zero chance of passing to the Republican base while simultaneously funding the very system being used to target and harass his voters. <\/p>\n<p>There is no rationale for excusing or defending an FBI that exists solely to protect Democrats and assail the left&rsquo;s political enemies. Any GOP official who doesn&rsquo;t &ldquo;have any complaints&rdquo; about such weaponization and Wray&rsquo;s conduct is undeserving of public office.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Shawn Fleetwood is a staff writer for The Federalist and a graduate of the University of Mary Washington. He previously served as a state content writer for Convention of States Action and his work has been featured in numerous outlets, including RealClearPolitics, RealClearHealth, and Conservative Review. Follow him on Twitter @ShawnFleetwood<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Common sense in politics is rare, as seen with Mike Rounds<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":539,"featured_media":2375532,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Mike-Rounds.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[8049,16926,46004,46003,32171],"class_list":["post-2375531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-accountability","tag-cowardice","tag-fbi-corruption","tag-mike-rounds","tag-political-commentary"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/Mike-Rounds.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2375531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/539"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2375531"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2375531\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2375535,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2375531\/revisions\/2375535"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2375532"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2375531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2375531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2375531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}