Washington, D.C. – Congresswoman Elise Stefanik joined the Mark Levin Show and discussed how House Republicans will leave no stone unturned to fulfill their Constitutional duty of oversight through the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government.
Watch her full interview here.
Highlights of her interview are below:
On the Work of the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government:
“House Republicans will leave no stone unturned. This will be some of the most important work of the House Republican majority in this Congress. And here's why: You talk to the American people across this country, and they fundamentally believe, rightfully so, that there are two sets of rules. One if your last name is Clinton or Biden, and you're a well-connected, high-profile Democrat, and you're part of the Swamp, you can commit crimes, and it's brushed under the rug. On the other hand, if you're a hardworking, patriotic American who's innocent, the federal government has been weaponized against you. We see that again and again.”
“The purpose of this Select Committee is to follow the facts and find the truth, to shine sunlight, to bring transparency and ultimately accountability, and I believe legislative reforms. The agencies that I'm focused on are the Department of Justice and the FBI. The list is quite lengthy in the abuses and weaponization that we've seen from these agencies.”
“I was very active in the unconstitutional impeachment proceedings, and was one of the leaders when it came to showing the importance of Congressional oversight of these agencies who have run afoul of the fact that they report to Congress and the American people, not the other way around.”
“We have subpoena power, and the Republicans intend to use it.”
“I'm honored to be on the committee based upon the work that I've done, whether it was uncovering from a mid-level DOJ official. It was my questions that led to the realization that the White House solicited the letter that it used to justify going after parents as domestic terrorists. That was my questioning of a mid-level DOJ official in an open hearing unrelated to the subject matter, but it's important to conduct robust oversight, and then follow up with document requests and appropriate subpoenas.”
On Congress’ Constitutional Duty of Oversight:
“Certainly, these agencies are absolutely guilty of trying to cover up, which is why they're stonewalling. They are afraid when the truth comes out. We have a Constitutional duty as Members of Congress. We have oversight over these agencies that are funded with taxpayer dollars. When there are government abuses, and the federal government is weaponized against the American people, there is nothing more important for Congress to do than assert that Constitutional responsibility.”
“It's not just the documents that the Biden Administration is trying to cover up. Look at the cover up that was going to happen if the Twitter Files were not put out publicly. The fact that the FBI paid over $3 million and had numerous, including weekly, standing meetings with Twitter to suppress free speech, to suppress the Hunter Biden laptop story–that by definition is a form of election meddling by not allowing facts out there. And this was well-reported, well-researched by the New York Post. But now we know because of Elon Musk, and new leadership at Twitter, that there were crimes committed, paid for by the U.S. taxpayers through these corrupt federal agencies.”
“Sunlight is an important antidote when there's government abuse, and that's what we're going to focus on -- getting to the truth. And that leads to accountability. And that leads to legislative reforms.”
On Political Weaponization of Federal Agencies Against Everyday Americans:
“The list is lengthy of the FBI’s crimes and significant weaponization against the American people and against prominent Republicans. If they can do that against the sitting elected officials, they can do it against any American. Certainly that is going to be part of our investigation.”
“Let's start with going back to 2016. You had the FBI Director, who, based on my questioning of him in an open hearing, admitted that he did not follow proper protocol, and he refused to brief Congress when he made the decision to open an investigation and spy on the Trump campaign. You had a FISA application that was illegal, conducted by the FBI and Department of Justice. You had the targeting of parents, which was solicited by the White House. The justification they used to go after these parents who were concerned about their kids’ education–rightfully so. You have the FBI working directly with Democrats on the January 6th Committee to go against their top political opponents, i.e. Republicans. And you have for example, the FBI raid of Mar-a-Lago.”
On the Political Weaponization of the January 6th Witch-Hunt:
“That transition from the Democrat majority to the Republican majority is taking place. Then-Republican Leader, now-Speaker Kevin McCarthy, put out a public request that all [January 6 Committee] documents must be maintained and turned over. That process is certainly happening, and our staff are going to go through all of those documents with a fine tooth comb, because there are a lot of questions that need to be answered.”
“That shows you the double standard and underscores the importance of this Select Committee. Here you have these federal agencies providing any information at all, even not following the proper ways of getting it, turning it over to the Democrats on the January 6th Committee, and yet now you have the same federal agencies stonewalling legitimate requests for Congressional oversight purposes. So I think there's going to be bombshell reports that come out about how, truly, the January 6th Committee was a political witch-hunt and was part of the weaponization of the federal government.”
On Bringing the Concerns of Upstate New York to the Highest Levels Through Oversight:
“I represent about a third of the state and my district. I have over 200 towns, but some of the bigger areas are Plattsburgh, Glens Falls, Massena, Ogdensburg, Potsdam. I start in the suburbs around the Capital District, and I go all the way up to the Canadian Border…This is exciting to go into the Republican majority. It's the first time my district has had a seat at the leadership level, certainly in my lifetime.”
“I've been attacked by the mainstream media, but usually when they viciously attack, I can tell that I'm onto something, because people are very scared about the truth falling out. I was most attacks during the unconstitutional impeachment proceedings, and my questions were fact-based. I’m very fact-based in how I go about my oversight responsibilities as a Member of Congress, and I'm going to continue doing that. But most importantly, I've earned [my constituents’ ]support, and they are very excited about the opportunity, and they're interested in this specific committee, in addition to my other work.”
“It's not just the national issues. There are examples of this weaponization of the federal government in every district across America. One example in my district…is that we unfortunately were the home of one of the deadliest vehicle crashes, a retrofitted limo that killed 20 people, whose families are still mourning, and the FBI has culpability because the owner of the limousine company was a longtime FBI informant. It was based upon my oversight questions of Chris Wray, the Director of the FBI, in an open hearing that forced the FBI to open up an investigation. Now, they have since said they're not turning that over to Congress, even though I caused them to open it, but I'm going to continue standing up for those families to get the transparency and accountability. So when we talk about oversight, it's not just the national issues, it impacts local families as well.”
On the Impact of Joe Biden’s Border Crisis in Upstate New York:
“Because of the southern border crisis, what's happened to the border patrol agents in my district is they've been transferred over and over again to the southern border. We don't have the resources that we need at our Northern Border. It's the top concern of these border patrol families, and it's something that we have been very active on in my Congressional office.”
“When we talk about every district being a border district, it's true, not only with the fentanyl overdoses that are skyrocketing across the country, but impacting the lack of resources we need on the Northern Border. We will move a border security package in this House Republican majority. That's one of our top legislative agenda items.”
