The day after President Joe Biden’s so-called “Anti-MAGA Speech,” a New Jersey woman’s daughter woke her up to let her know that three armed FBI agents were at the door.
What she initially thought was a joke proved to be all too real. The agents claimed that they were there acting on an anonymous tip that the woman, Lisa Gallagher, was involved in the events at the U.S. Capitol on January 6, 2020, which reportedly, she had no involvement and was well over two years prior.
“Even though I knew I had done nothing wrong, after seeing Joe Biden’s speech the night before, I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is political,’” said Gallagher in an interview with Tucker Carlson on FOX News.
In his speech the night before, President Biden proclaimed, “As I stand here tonight, equality and democracy are under assault. We do ourselves no favor to pretend otherwise. There’s no question that the Republican Party today is dominated, driven, and intimidated by Donald Trump and the MAGA Republicans. And that is a threat to this country.”
Gallagher, an outspoken Trump supporter, felt targeted. Other observers of the speech, like Washington Post columnist Megan McArdle, believed that Biden’s approach had “a steep cost” to the political fabric of the nation.
McArdle argued that Biden and his advisers were “being recklessly cavalier, performing for their donor base and their followers on social media rather than undertaking the hard, patient work of actually rebuilding our frayed social norms.”
“This is self-indulgent and, dare I say it, even a bit unpatriotic,” chided McArdle.
Carlson said he believed this incident to be retaliation for Gallagher’s public support of former President Trump.
The Dallas Express reached out to Republican Party of Texas State Chairman Matt Rinaldi for comment, as he has been an outspoken critic of the FBI, even calling for the abolishment of the agency.
Rinaldi said, “The FBI has been weaponized to intimidate and terrorize anyone who opposes the administration. We’ve seen this in Trump and his supporters being raided or concerned parents attending school board meetings being labeled ‘terrorists.’ This is America, not a banana republic where they jail political opponents.”
Lisa Gallagher was not taken into custody by the agents who showed up at her home that day. As of the writing of this article, no public statement about this incident has been made by the FBI.
The Epoch Times reportedly contacted the FBI for more details and received the following response: “We do not confirm or deny the existence of an investigation, nor do we release information pertaining to interviews. […] the FBI routinely contacts individuals, including witnesses, victims, and others, to follow up on tips and gather information about potential threats or criminal activity.”
In a statement given before the House Oversight and Reform Committee in June 2021, Director of the FBI Christopher Wray explained that the FBI’s actions since the events of January 6 were in the interest of “protecting democracy.”
“The FBI does not tolerate violent extremists who use the guise of First Amendment-protected activity to engage in violent criminal activity. The destruction of property, violent assaults on law enforcement officers, and imminent physical threats to elected officials betray the values of our democracy,” Wray said.
He continued, “Since [the protests], the FBI has deployed our full investigative resources […] to aggressively pursue those involved in criminal activity during the events of January 6, 2021. FBI special agents, intelligence analysts, and professional staff have been hard at work gathering evidence, sharing intelligence, and working with federal prosecutors to bring charges against the individuals involved.”
