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During an appearance on MSNBC on Sunday afternoon, a former assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI claimed Donald Trump’s decision to only have cursory vetting performed on his Cabinet appointees could blow up in his face.
Beyond being blindsided by revelations of sexual assault allegations levied against Fox News personality Pete Hegseth, targeted to be the new secretary of defense, Frank Figliuzzi claimed members of Congress or President Joe Biden could do what Trump’s people won’t.
Speaking with host Alex Witt, the former FBI official explained, “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. “
“I think that’s the chief reason he’s [Trump] avoiding it,” he added before elaborating, “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.”
Noting he did research on the topic, he added he, “…looked at the executive orders through history, through Clinton, Obama, looked at two pertinent memorandums of understanding (MOUs), between DOJ and Senate Judiciary, DOJ and the White House.”
“Really important, a presidential transition act of 1963 that says a president can request nominee background investigations from the FBI when nominees’ names are announced,” he added. “What’s my argument? The nominees names have been announced. 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.”
