ICYMI—Hagerty Joins Mornings with Maria on Fox Business to Discuss Making Memphis Safe, Protecting Leaders, Cracking Down on Radical Left-Wing Violence

WASHINGTON-Today, United States Senator Bill Hagerty (R-TN), a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, joined Mornings with Maria on Fox Business to discuss President Donald Trump's deployment of federal resources to Memphis, the need to strengthen protection for public officials, and Trump Administration efforts to hold radical groups accountable.

Partial Transcript
Hagerty on President Trump's efforts to make Memphis safe again: "It's very sad that politicians would make this into a partisan issue. The most fundamental duty of government is public safety. That shouldn't be a partisan issue. That's our responsibility to deliver a safe environment. This is something that's been going on in Memphis since I was a kid. It's very personal to me, and I've been working very closely with state-level authorities and local-level authorities for the better part of the past year to put in place what we're seeing right now. Our preliminary results have been outstanding. The FBI has surged resources for the past several months in Memphis. We've had over 500 arrests there as a result of this surge, over a hundred federal indictments and climbing. Now, President Trump has stepped up and said: We're going to provide the full menu of federal resources to actually bring crime under control in Memphis. And then my pledge and my goal working with Governor [Bill] Lee and working with local officials there in Memphis is to make certain that this is sustainable for the long term. We're going to provide the appropriate resources for law enforcement to make certain that Memphis remains the safest city in America."

Hagerty on prosecuting criminals under federal law: "The legal part is already in place. I certainly like to see state-level crimes stepped up in terms of the penalties. But we're going to be charging these criminals on a federal basis. One of the most critical aspects of what President Trump announced yesterday is that he's bringing every agency to bear. You went through all of the three-letter agency names- ATF [U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives] will be there, HUD [U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development] will be there, and even the IRS [Internal Revenue Service] will help prosecute these criminals to the fullest extent of federal law. That means they'll be going to jail, not the local county lockup. They'll be sent to Leavenworth; this is hard time. We're talking about cleaning the streets. Our role as legislators is to make certain that- and I serve on the Appropriations Committee -the appropriate resources are made available so that law enforcement has what they need there. The governor has pledged to do the same thing."

Hagerty on protecting officials after political violence: "I've already had experience doing this. I actually worked with Senator Mark Warner across the aisle to make certain we had more protection for our Supreme Court justices when their homes were being marched on in the wake of the leaked Dobbs [v. Jackson Women's Health Organization] decision. I accelerated resources then in my role in the Appropriations Committee. We're looking right now at doing that on a much broader basis, because you've seen the scale of these threats. It's disgusting; it's a shame. And it's sad that it's happening here in America, but we will make certain that we provide the proper resources. With respect to these groups, I was with President Trump and Stephen Miller yesterday discussing this in the Oval Office. This is extremely disturbing. And President Trump is going to step it up to an even higher level. He's talking about bringing RICO charges. He actually spoke with [Attorney General] Pam Bondi and asked her to look into this to see whether RICO charges might apply. That is extremely serious. The level of cooperation is extremely concerning. We talked about George Soros' group. I heard [Chair of the President's Intelligence Advisory Board] Devin Nunes say that that group- the same one that came into Memphis and funded a DA [District Attorney], a local DA that has been very soft on crime -is turning these criminals back on the streets. It's happening at every level. To the extent they're coordinating, we need to stop it."

Hagerty on holding social media accountable: "This [social media responsibility] is something that's deeply concerning. It's been a matter of debate here. We don't want to limit innovation here in America, but after you see the events that have taken place here recently, we've got to do something."

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