President-elect Donald Trump’s decision not to do background checks on his Cabinet picks could come back to haunt him, a former FBI assistant director for counterintelligence said in an MSNBC interview on Sunday.
"Be careful what you ask for, you might get it. If you want an FBI vetting process that tells you risk and threat qualifications and competency and reputation, you're going to get it, and he may not like the answers,” Frank Figliuzzi told MSNBC host Alex Witt.
Last week, CNN reported that Trump’s transition team is bypassing standard FBI background checks for some of his Cabinet picks, instead relying on private investigation companies to vet candidates. Thorough background checks have long been a norm used by incoming presidents when choosing their Cabinet.
A number of allegations against some of Trump’s nominees have surfaced in recent weeks, most notably a rape allegation against Pete Hegseth, who was tapped to lead the Department of Defense. Trump’s transition team says they were unaware of the allegations before Hegseth’s nomination.
Not wanting further information like this to be made public is possibly why Trump is avoiding background checks altogether, Figliuzzi said.
President Joe Biden or members of Congress could order the investigations instead, he added.
"With regard to why President Biden or the Senate Judiciary Committee might want to do this now, I do have an answer for that: The answer is they can do it," he argued, pointing to a 1963 law that states presidents can request investigations into nominees from the FBI. “If Trump isn't going to comply with the existing protocols and practices, then we should comply with it and ask the Senate and the White House to request it now."
Despite widespread scrutiny about the dubious pasts of some Trump nominees, at least four of whom have allegations of sexual misconduct against them, a top GOP Senator dismissed the need for FBI background checks in an ABC News interview on Sunday.
When asked whether we should “do away with” FBI background checks for Cabinet members, Sen. Bill Hagerty, R-Tenn., responded: “Certainly."
"What the American public cares about is to see the mandate that they voted in delivered upon,” Hagerty said.
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