The Homeland Security secretary should’ve been removed from office after being impeached for dereliction of duty, and the FBI director should resign and be investigated, Missouri Sen. Josh Hawley argues.

Both should be formally held in contempt by the Senate for refusing to testify in a public hearing, he adds.

It’s been a particularly “shameful, shameful season for FBI leadership,” Hawley said in an exclusive interview with The Heartlander on Thursday, adding that Georgia jogger Laken Riley’s illegal immigrant murderer’s conviction this week is a damning indictment of Homeland Security and the entire Biden administration.

“One-hundred percent,” Hawley said. “It’s an indictment of [Homeland Security Secretary] Alejandro Mayorkas, whose policies allowed this killer into the country.

“And he lied to Congress about it. He told Congress that the killer was allowed in pursuant to our usual policies. That is false. He said all of the parole rules were followed. That is false. Then he developed amnesia about it –  said, ‘Well, I can’t quite remember.’ He knew exactly. We have all the records. This administration has waived the parole rules; they have allowed in criminal after criminal. 

“Laken Riley is dead because of the policies of Joe Biden and Alejandro Mayorkas. 

“And by the way, she’s not the only one. Travis Wolfe in the state of Missouri, a 12-year-old boy from Wentzville, he’s dead because of the policies of the Biden administration. It’s time now for a house cleaning [of] these people who have endangered our country and endangered good, honest citizens.”

Hawley blasted Mayorkas and FBI Director Christopher Wray for refusing to testify in a public hearing about their departments’ failures and wrongdoings.

“What they’re doing is, I think, totally unlawful and it’s totally unprecedented – for the FBI director and the Homeland Security chief to say, ‘You know what? We just don’t want to testify, and we’re not going to testify in public.’ My goodness gracious. You can’t hold them accountable if you can’t ask them questions. 

“We ought to hold them in contempt, is what we should do. We should issue subpoenas, demand that they come to testify. If they won’t do that, we should begin contempt proceedings against them.

“And I’ll tell you what else: Christopher Wray should not be FBI director one minute longer. He has been FBI director for seven terrible years, during which time he has tried to infiltrate churches with FBI informants; he has sent SWAT teams to the homes of pro-life demonstrators, peaceful demonstrators, to try and intimidate them; he has overseen the incredible political abuse of his department in every way possible. And now he refuses to be accountable publicly. 

“I mean, this is not a guy who should be in this role any longer.”

Has Wray done anything criminal?

“Well, I think we ought to have a full investigation,” Hawley argues.

“I think the way that the Justice Department and the FBI have been used is extremely, extremely troubling and unconstitutional, which of course is the ultimate standard in our system of government. 

“Listen, people have rights. They have First Amendment rights. Just to take one example, the idea that the FBI would recruit spies into Christian churches, including Catholic parishes, is unbelievable. It is a gross violation of our Constitution, of our constitutional principles, and Wray presided over it.

“And moreover, he misled Congress, if not outright lied to Congress about it. This is a guy who should not be in office.”

Hawley makes no bones about his belief that Mayorkas has committed perjury in lying to Congress, while also ignoring immigration law.

“Yeah, I think so. Yeah, I think so. This is why I supported his impeachment. I think he should have been impeached and removed from office two years ago. So, the fact that he is still in office, to me, is a travesty.”

Meanwhile, Hawley points to cities and even states harboring illegal criminals, which is arguably a crime in itself.

“To me, the sanctuary city thing is illegal,” says Hawley, a lawyer and former Missouri attorney general.

“First of all, federal law trumps [state and local law]. Secondly, federal law provides that ICE has the authority to come in and to remove illegals who are here, who have committed crimes. And what all these sanctuary city jurisdictions are saying is, ‘We won’t cooperate. We will shield the criminals.’ 

“My view is, why should those people be getting funding? Think about this: These cities and a lot of these states are getting gobs of taxpayer money. Why should we be giving them money to allow them to shelter and harbor illegals who are also, in many cases, convicted killers, convicted criminals, convicted rapists and more? I think it’s outrageous.”

On the matter of illegality, Hawley notes that no one has been held responsible for the sham plot to tar Donald Trump as a Russian collaborator, which cost taxpayers millions and wounded the first Trump presidency.

Hawley says the FBI’s Wray “was involved in the back end of it, in terms of covering it up.

“And by the way, who has been fired for that? Who has been fired for lying to a court, which is what they did as part of the Russia hoax? Who has been fired for trying to get wiretaps on the first Trump presidential campaign and falsifying evidence? To my knowledge, nobody has. Nobody has been seriously disciplined. Nobody has been relieved of duty. Nobody has been held accountable. 

“And while Wray wasn’t there for the first part of that, he could have certainly done something to clean up the department, and he hasn’t done that. And worse, they’ve doubled down by doing things like trying to recruit spies into Christian churches. 

“I mean, it has been a shameful, shameful season for FBI leadership. We need new leadership, it’s clear.”

Is the Senate Judiciary Committee, which Hawley serves on, going to look at all this? 

“Oh, I sure hope so,” he says. “That’s what we’re here to do, is conduct oversight. 

“Here’s what we need for this era: We need a new commission, a Church Commission like we had 50 years ago that looked at all of the intelligence agencies. We need a new Church-style commission that will look at the FBI, that will look at the DOJ, that will open up the books on everything they’ve been doing in recent years. 

“Lay it all bare. Let the American public see it, see who’s responsible for it, and then clean house.”