(LifeSiteNews) — Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton shared Tuesday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) retaliated against him after he tried to initiate an investigation against the agency “for violating state and federal law.”

Paxton told War Room host Steve Bannon that 3 1/2 years ago he received a referral from the Travis County district attorney to investigate the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) for breaking the law. Paxton was surprised to find after he began that process of investigation that the FBI knew about the referral before he did.

“They were already in my office threatening people and scaring the heck out of all of them,” said Paxton, adding that this is why there was a “coup” in his office. 

He recounted how he was told by his head of law enforcement, including David Maxwell, that they could not investigate the FBI because it was “not possible for them to commit a crime.” Paxton said that when he approached his assistant, telling him that they had to fire Maxwell, only to have his assistant refuse.

“I said, ‘why?’ He said, because he threatened me. And he said, if I did what you want me to do, if I investigated them, they’re going to come after me. Like the FBI and Department of Justice are going to come after you,” Paxton recalled.

The Texas AG said that it was when he sent out subpoenas about phone calls of FBI employees that his own office staff members filed a complaint against him, alleging that he “committed a federal crime,” although they never specified what that was. 

Paxton suggested that this complaint against him has been used as a defense by his office employees against being fired, and that furthermore it has led to the FBI investigating Paxton, “saying that I don’t have the right to fire these people.”

“And the downside of all this is the truth never came out. We never got to finish the investigation,” Paxton told Bannon. He cited a few examples of the FBI’s violations of the law and the Constitution, claiming that they do not properly give search warrants, only issuing them after investigations instead of beforehand, and that they have “altered government record.”

When Bannon said that the FBI have “turned into an American Gestapo,” Paxton replied, “Steve, I’m telling you, they are the Gestapo. We’re in Venezuela. We might as well be in China. We might as well be in Germany during the ’30s and ’40s. It is corrupt … They don’t follow any laws anymore, and no one can stop them.” 

The Texas AG believes that because of the retaliation against him for attempting an investigation of the FBI, other AGs are “afraid” to act similarly.

He called for more “exposure” of this corruption to help combat it, as well as the election of a president who will “bring in an Attorney General that will take these guys out and make sure that the corruption is eliminated.”

Paxton believes attempting reform of the FBI is not enough, but rather that the entire organization needs to be dismantled. 

“The FBI was formed to go after organized crime. The problem with that now is they are organized crime … They’re a political organization designed to persecute people like you and me. And so it would be better not to have anything than to have that,” Paxton said.

Bannon cited the targeting of traditional Catholics as a manifestation of the FBI’s current corruption. An infamous memo put out by the Richmond, Virginia, FBI field office directed surveillance of so-called “radical traditionalist Catholics” (RTCs), particularly in the lead-up to the 2024 presidential election. The directive was retracted following outrage, but FBI agent-turned-whistleblower Kyle Seraphin later said the document was still being internally circulated.

Paxton also referenced the fact that parents who attended school board meetings to voice their disagreement with radical sexual and racial curricula and COVID mandates were also subjected to scrutiny by federal law enforcement as potential terror threats.

The FBI and DOJ under President Joe Biden have since been slammed by a bevy of conservative leaders, including House Speaker Mike Johnson, for being politically weaponized against pro-lifers, traditional Catholics, and parents simply determined to protect the innocence of their children.