Kasich slams Republican attacks on FBI, Justice Department

Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R) slammed GOP attacks on the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) in a speech Wednesday, comparing attacks on the agencies and the press to actions of “bullies” and “autocrats.”

“The first thing that happens when people want to be bullies and they’re autocrats or whatever it is, is that they go to restrict the press,” Kasich said, according to The Columbus Dispatch. “So, do all the complaining you want, but thank God we have the press.”

“To me, it is just one of those essential things that we have in our country that is so important for the fabric of who we are as Americans,” he continued.

{mosads}Kasich, 65, also decried rhetoric aimed at the “hallmark” institutions of the DOJ and FBI.

“These attacks on these institutions like we’re seeing now with the FBI and the Justice Department — I mean these are things that they’re hallmarks of our country,” he said. “And as we erode them or create enormous doubts in the minds of Americans that there’s anything we can trust … it gets us in trouble.”

Kasich’s remarks come amid a fight between House Republicans, President Trump, the DOJ and the FBI over the expected release of a classified memo that Republicans say contains evidence of bias against Trump in the ongoing investigation into Russian interference in the 2016 election.

Top FBI and DOJ officials have pleaded with the Trump White House not to release the memo after Republicans on the House Intelligence Committee, led by Chairman Devin Nunes (R-Calif.), voted to approve the release of the memo earlier this week.

Kasich, who has been rumored to be a possible primary challenger to Trump, told the gathering of reporters on Wednesday that he was unsure about his future plans, according to Cleveland.com.

“I know this may sound a little wacky to some of you, but the good Lord is going to decide what I’m going to do,” Kasich said. “There are no openings for that job [president] and I don’t sit around thinking about that, but I do think about these issues … and I want to be a voice in favor of immigration, I want to be a voice in favor of trade.”

On Tuesday, Kasich told CNN he hasn’t ruled out running for president in 2020, saying, “I honestly don’t know what my future is.”

“If I felt my country called me and it was practical, I’d have to very seriously think about it,” he said.

Kasich has repeatedly criticized Trump since the 2016 primary election.