Senator Bill Cassidy (R-LA) says he “absolutely” supports calls for Congress to investigate the FBI’s heavily criticized failure to stop a mass murderer’s attack on a Florida high school last week during an interview with Breitbart News’ Deputy Political Editor Amanda House on Breitbart News Saturday.
The FBI’s lukewarm response to multiple tips that Nikolas Cruz, the suspect in the Parkland, FL, school massacre that left 17 people dead, was a potential threat, came under fire from both sides of the political spectrum almost immediately.
House asked Cassidy if he would support Congress looking into the oversights that left Cruz able to carry out his attack despite the FBI receiving tips in both September and January that the 19-year-old was contemplating violence, the police reportedly having been called to his home 39 times, and his threatening both online and in person to bring guns to school.
“Absolutely,” Cassidy replied. “Here we have the FBI, not with subtle findings, but with horrible findings of a young man who the police have been called on 39 different occasions, posting YouTube videos. Someone within a month or even sooner reporting to the FBI that he was prone to danger, fellow students at the school identifying him as someone who was incredibly troubled, and it wasn’t followed up on. Why not? And how systemic is that issue?”
“I think that’s something Congress should be interested in,” he continued.
On Friday, the day before Cassidy’s radio appearance, Florida Gov. Rick Scott called for FBI Director Christopher Wray to resign over the fiasco, when asked for his opinion, Cassidy was reluctant to do the same.
“The FBI director has not been on the job that long, but someone should be held accountable,” Cassidy said. “If there’s a training accident and a Navy sailor dies, it isn’t the head of the Navy who steps down, it is the … Admiral most directly in charge steps down. And whoever’s most directly in charge should be held accountable.”
Cassidy was also skeptical of the cascade of generic calls for “gun control” in response to the Parkland shooting. “I’m never quite sure what people mean by ‘gun control’,” he told House. “If they mean making sure that the mentally ill or those prone to danger don’t get weapons, absolutely. That’s already the law; we need to implement it. If they mean the confiscation of weapons from law-abiding citizens, that is another issue.”
Other topics discussed include the senator’s continued effort to completely repeal and replace Obamacare, the Republican tax cut, immigration, and the 2018 midterm elections.
Breitbart News Saturday is broadcast live on SiriusXM Patriot Channel 125 from 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. Eastern.
The full interview can be heard below.
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