Dan Cox says as Maryland governor, he would use state police against Biden

Cox, who was endorsed by Trump, won the Republican gubernatorial primary last month against Kelly Schulz, a protege of term-limited Gov. Larry Hogan (R), in what was viewed as a proxy war between Trump’s and Hogan’s divergent views for the Republican Party’s future.

Cox, an attorney and one-term state delegate, extensively fought against Biden’s 2020 victory. The day of the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, Cox called then-Vice President Mike Pence “a traitor” on social media but later apologized for his choice of words.

In his email Tuesday, Cox accused Biden, Vice President Harris, FBI Director Christopher A. Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland of “using their offices for their own political weaponization against Republicans” and against Trump, whom he described as “our greatest President of the United States.”

Late Monday, the FBI searched a safe at Trump’s Mar-a-Lago Club, apparently in connection to an investigation of the potential mishandling of classified documents. Many Trump supporters have lashed out over the search, labeling it as an abuse of power and calling for an investigation of the Justice Department.

White House officials said Tuesday afternoon that Biden was not aware that a warrant had been issued for the search.

Cox’s response stands in contrast to that of Hogan, a prominent GOP Trump critic, who on Tuesday afternoon implored the Biden administration to document how the search was authorized. “Even before yesterday’s events at Mar-a-Lago, America was already dangerously divided,” Hogan said in a statement.

“These are unprecedented circumstances that require unprecedented transparency and accountability from our government institutions. The American people deserve to know all the facts as soon as possible, and I call on the Biden administration to release — at a minimum — the documents authorizing the FBI search.”

Failing to “provide overwhelming evidence that action was absolutely necessary,” Hogan warned, will further undermine Americans’ faith in democracy.

Hogan, as he weighs a potential presidential bid, has sought to woo disaffected Republicans to his brand of pragmatic conservatism that he likens to President Ronald Reagan’s approach.

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) — who presents himself as a moderate while also repeatedly throwing red meat to the Trump base of the Republican Party — also weighed in on the search at Mar-a-Lago, posting a hard-right take that called it a “stunning move.”

“This same DOJ labeled parents in Loudoun County as terrorists and failed to enforce federal law to protect Justices in their homes. Selective, politically motivated actions have no place in our democracy,” Youngkin posted on his personal Twitter account,…