Rep. Charlie Dent, R-Pa., is convinced there are no secret societies at the FBI, a narrative that's gotten some play this week amid reports that two FBI officials and an informant discussed it.
"No, I do not believe there's an illuminati at the FBI. I do not," Dent said Thursday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe."
"We have been the party traditionally of law enforcement, at the state and local level and also at the federal level. … And now here we are, as a party, trying to brand ourselves as somehow suggesting that many men and women of the FBI are not as professional as they ought to be. We need to get behind law enforcement, show some respect here, and move away from these conspiracy theories."
Sen. Ron Johnson, R-Wis., raised the possibility this week that a secret society of people within the FBI existed after President Donald Trump won the 2016 election. He said an informant told lawmakers about the group.
The two aforementioned FBI officials exchanged several months of text messages that were pro-Hillary Clinton and anti-Trump, which has led some to believe that there was a conspiracy at the FBI to try to elect Clinton. One of those messages referenced a secret society.
Since last spring, special counsel Robert Mueller has led the Department of Justice's investigation to determine whether the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.
Dent isn't buying any of the secret society talk.
"I think my colleagues ought to cease and desist from some of this rhetoric against our federal law enforcement officials who are very professional and thorough, at least where I live," Dent said. "They're out there putting their lives on the line every day."