By Nathan Layne
Former Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson, a Republican running for U.S. president, said on Monday that Donald Trump has "done great harm" to trust in federal law enforcement through "self-serving" attempts to undermine investigations of his conduct.
Hutchinson, one of the few Republicans seeking the 2024 nomination who has criticized the former president, spoke at the National Press Club in Washington to outline his plans to reform the FBI and other federal law enforcement agencies.
"Donald Trump has done great harm to our rule of law in this country and to federal law enforcement. He has undermined their credibility in the eyes of the public. He has continued his victimization," Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson's comments come as some Republicans in Congress have stepped up their critiques of the Justice Department, aiming to undercut U.S. Special Counsel Jack Smith's probes in to Trump's retention of classified documents and his role leading up to the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Trump has long alleged without evidence that the probes in to his actions are politically motivated.
Hutchinson said he regarded some of Trump's criticisms of the federal investigation in to his 2016 campaign's ties to Russia, which concluded in 2019, as justified. But he blasted the former president's ongoing attacks on the justice system as unwarranted and dangerous.
"They have become self-serving and they have undermined exactly what we are trying to accomplish in this country, which is a rule of law that works and criminal justice system that is equal in its treatment of all individuals," Hutchinson said.
Hutchinson, who has been polling in the low single digits, far behind the front-runner Trump, laid out a series of reform ideas he believes would shore up confidence in the FBI and other agencies. They include requiring that FBI agents record their interviews to improve transparency and he also said he would reaffirm a policy ensuring the president does not interfere with federal investigations.
Hutchinson said he does not support "defunding" the FBI, as has been proposed by some of Trump's allies in Congress and several of his Republican rivals for the nomination. Last week Republicans in the House of Representatives hammered FBI Director Christopher Wray about what they call the "weaponization" of federal law enforcement against Trump. Wray denied any partisan bias in how investigations are conducted.
"I don't believe in chaos. I believe in doing things the right way," Hutchinson said. "This is a plan with balance that has very dramatic reform, but doesn't go crazy that undermines our public safety, undermines our counterterrorism efforts."
(reporting by Nathan Layne in Wilton, Connecticut; Editing by Scott Malone and Matthew Lewis)
