Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan said Sunday the Department of Justice will need to be transparent in proving the importance of the unprecedented search of Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago last week but also criticized the response from other Republicans who he said inflamed animus against law enforcement.
“I still believe that transparency was and is critically important. I was not one of the people that was just reacting, just defending Donald Trump,” Hogan told ABC “This Week” co-anchor Jonathan Karl of the FBI operation at the former president’s residence in Florida. “But I understood that, without anyone understanding what this was about, that it was going to and could lead to even further division and angry rhetoric from both sides.”
“And so, I was happy that they did come out and unseal the documents on the search,” Hogan said. “I think it was a step in the right direction. But I think we still have a lot of unanswered questions and we’re gonna continue until people understand more.”
Hogan added that he was concerned after classified and other sensitive materials were obtained at Mar-a-Lago.
“It’s obviously a serious concern, and I think that’s what we have to find out more information about. What really are the documents and what are the implications from a national security standpoint? One side, you can say, ‘well, the Justice Department, the FBI and the federal judge, believed that they should do it, then it must be pretty serious.’ On the other hand, with the absence of more transparency, people are going to continue to jump to conclusions,” he said.
Hogan, a loud intraparty critic of Trump, also warned against other Republicans exacerbating tensions over the issue after some lawmakers like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., issued calls to “defund the FBI.” Those comments continued after a man attacked an FBI office in Ohio following the search.
“Very concerning to me. It’s outrageous rhetoric,” said Hogan, who has several family members who worked for the FBI. “My father, my uncle, two of my cousins were FBI agents and I work with them on an ongoing basis, state police work with them every single day. These are dedicated law enforcement officers.”
Hogan also was coy about future presidential ambitions, rumors of which have been sparked over his recent travels to key primary states and repeated criticism of Trump.
“I definitely am going to be a voice, and I’m trying to do what I can to get my party back on track because I want to win elections instead of lose elections,” he told Karl.