Friend, yesterday, an armed gunman attacked an FBI field office here in Cincinnati.

I am thankful to our local, state, and federal law enforcement officers who kept us all safe yet again.

In the immediate aftermath of the FBI search on Donald Trump’s Mar-A-Lago estate, Rep. Chabot put out a fundraising email telling his supporters the Justice Department was a “political weapon of the Left”, and that they should donate to “help get to the bottom of this.”

I want to be clear: we still need more information from law enforcement before we know the full story behind the attack and the motivations of the attacker.

What I do know however, is that this attack came on the heels of a coordinated effort to discredit the FBI by Trump and his supporters, including Chabot. Trump and Chabot continue to incite chaos and violence against our country for political gain. Chabot must put an end to this rhetoric immediately.

Our democracy cannot survive if we resolve to settle political disputes through violence. It cannot survive if we counter free and fair elections with insurrection. It cannot survive if extremist Republicans continue to spew dangerous, blatantly false rhetoric for their short term political gain.

This election has never been about partisan politics. It’s about Republicans, Democrats, and Independents coming together to end the extremism and dangerous rhetoric that Trump and his allies like Rep. Chabot are peddling.

Folks, Rep. Chabot has placed his loyalty to Donald Trump above all else, and it’s time we held him responsible for abandoning our democracy. Let’s do just that at the ballot box this November.

Thank you,

Greg Landsman