Bob Corker: Trump’s Call to Investigate Democrats ‘Undermines Our Justice System’

Tennessee Sen. Bob Corker criticized President Trump for urging the U.S. Department of Justice to go after Democrats, saying it “erodes the American people’s confidence in our institutions.”

The Republican lawmaker, who has clashed with Trump numerous times, including when he called the White House an “adult day care center” last month, said it is important that the justice system is independent of the president.

“Like me, most Americans hope that our justice system is independent and free of political interference,” Corker said in a statement Friday. “President Trump’s pressuring of the Justice Department and FBI to pursue cases against his adversaries and calling for punishment before trials take place are totally inappropriate and not only undermine our justice system but erode the American people’s confidence in our institutions.”

Trump has tweeted numerous times over the last day to ask why the Justice Department and the FBI have not investigated his former presidential opponent Hillary Clinton and other Democratic officials.

Trump has called for Democratic officials to be investigated several times, but the latest insistence that the Justice Department look into, as he specifically tweeted, “the deleted E-mails, Uranium, Podesta and the Server,” marks a break in protocol for how presidents usually engage with the Justice Department, which maintains a level of independence from the White House so it can conduct investigations without political pressure.