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EXCLUSIVE: DES MOINES, Iowa – Iowa’s top Republican lawmakers and candidates tell Fox News Digital at the state fair that they will be demanding answers from the FBI over the raid of President Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago home and say that voters in the state will head to the polls based on concerns about how Washington, D.C., is being run.
Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, who is the top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, urged that the underlying affidavit that led to the FBI’s execution of the search warrant of Trump’s home be made public. He spoke during an interview with Fox News Digital at the Iowa State Fair.
“I think that would solve a lot of the public relations problem, if they would [make it public],” Grassley said, adding “I do believe because of the great historical significance of this invasion of the home, that we need total transparency.”
“I think we need some serious answers from the FBI and the Department of Justice about the raid. Americans are concerned that these entities are going to start politically targeting people, and we need to make sure that’s not happening. I think everybody wants justice to be carried out, but we don’t want to see these agencies be weaponized for political purposes,” said Grassley.
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Sen. Joni Ernst speaks with Iowans on their top voting issues at the Iowa State Fair. (Fox News Digital)
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds told Fox News Digital that the FBI raid exposes the “two tiers of justice” in the U.S., and as a result, Iowans will be motivated to head to the polls in November to vote to restore justice in the country.
“It’s just unbelievable,” she said. “There’s two tiers of justice, I think that’s what we continue to see. When you look at what’s happened in the past with Hillary Clinton, with President Clinton. I mean, the list goes on and on how nothing has ever been done with them, but yet we can’t figure out a way to work with the former president to get the information that they need. And then when you add to that it’s a potential political opponent, it’s ridiculous, and it’s scary. And people are upset about that, I hear a lot about that. They’re paying attention.”
“Transparency is the answer,” the governor added.
Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds and Rep. Miller-Meeks at the state fair. (Fox News Digital)
“We are not going to have two tiers of justice in our country, and we do that through the electoral elections. And that’s what I think is going to happen in November,” Reynolds told Fox News Digital.
Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst added: “I do not believe that the raid on President Trump’s home was warranted at all. Certainly, if they felt there was something, national security interests that would harm America, they would have gone in immediately. They did not do that.”
“And I am asking that the DOJ and the FBI release as much information as possible so the American people can know and understand what was going on,” Ernst told Fox News Digital at the fairgrounds.
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Rep. Marianette Miller-Meeks, R-Iowa, said the raid exposed that there must be equal application of the law.
“We need to look at the FBI, investigate the FBI, and, you know, look at the DOJ and find out why was this raid conducted,” Miller-Meeks told Fox News Digital. “What was so important that they had to go in and raid a former president’s house? I think all of us can say it’s unparalleled. It’s unprecedented. And, you know, no one’s above the law, but no one is beneath the law either. There needs to be equal treatment under the law.”
Rep. Ashley Hinson, R-Iowa, told Fox News Digital that threats against FBI agents in the days since the raid should be condemned.
Republican candidate for Iowa attorney general Brenna Bird poses with her family at Iowa’s State Fair. (Fox News Digital)
“FBI agents need to be able to do their job safely. But again, we were able to prosecute. So I condemn any violence. Violence is never the answer. But making sure that we are again focused on the transparency within the organization is,” said the lawmaker.
In regard to the FBI’s raid of Mar-a-Lago, Brenna Bird, the Republican nominee for state attorney general, said that Iowans have expressed concerns about what is happening in Washington, D.C., and at the national FBI office “where they feel like they’re being targeted for their politics under the law.”
She cited as examples parents that are going to school board meetings, and the addition of 87,000 IRS agent jobs created under the Inflation Reduction Act. “Our local law enforcement, our local FBI agents are good people that are committed to public safety. The problem is in Washington, D.C.,” she continued.
As for what will drive Iowans to the voting booths this November, Grassley said that inflation is the No. 1 issue for Iowans.
“Inflation is number one. Some people call it cost of living, saying gas prices. And the fact is, the president is not enforcing law at the border. It just irritates people,” said Grassley.
Ashley Hinson said: “Well, I think it’s all economy, economy, economy.”
“With the midterm elections coming up, inflation number one is hitting Iowa really hard fuel costs, fertilizer costs for our farmers. And of course, as we roll into harvest diesel prices to be a very big concern,” Ernst told Fox News Digital.
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Reynolds said “there’s a lot of anxiety and frustration about what’s happening in Washington.”
“[Iowans] can’t believe how fast they’ve seen a really robust economy, more people working than ever before, wages increasing, to really watch all of that deteriorate in such a short time is really concerning,” she said. And I think so many of them feel that no matter what the cost, no matter what it takes, this Biden administration and Democrats are fundamentally trying to change who we are as a country, and people are paying attention.” Reynolds added.
Former Vice President Mike Pence walks with Sen. Chuck Grassley at Iowa’s State Fair. (Fox News Digital)
“Well, the top issue that I’m hearing from Iowans at the state fair is they’re concerned about what’s happening with the Biden administration and what that means for their lives, whether it’s overreach, mandates, you name it,” said Bird.
Bird continued, saying that Biden has been “hostile to agriculture” and Iowan families are “having a hard time putting gas in the tank and buying groceries.”
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“The Biden administration has been a real problem for Iowa, and that’s part of the reason why I’m running for attorney general here in Iowa, is to file lawsuits, to push back against the Biden administration, overreach their mandates, and also their imposition of local social policies on Iowans through federal funding,” she continued.