In the light of the #ReleaseTheMemo flap, Congressmen, reporters, and news anchors trip over their tongues to venerate the FBI while accusing its leadership of corruption. They repeat, “The vast majority of FBI agents are loyal hardworking Americans.” Fine, but to whom are they loyal? One thing an FBI agent does extremely well is follow orders.
The FBI was founded in 1935 by Franklin Roosevelt, Democrat, with the assistance of its first director, J. Edgar Hoover. Hoover remained director for thirty-seven years because he collected damaging files on Americans, especially politicians and dissidents.
The following is a taken from Wikipedia:
Later in life and after his death, Hoover became a controversial figure as evidence of his secretive abuses of power began to surface. He was found to have exceeded the jurisdiction of the FBI, and to have used the FBI to harass political dissenters and activists, to amass secret files on political leaders, and to collect evidence using illegal methods. Hoover consequently amassed a great deal of power and was in a position to intimidate and threaten sitting presidents.
Wikipedia also quotes Harry Truman:
… we want no Gestapo or secret police. The FBI is tending in that direction. They are dabbling in sex-life scandals and plain blackmail. J. Edgar Hoover would give his right eye to take over, and all congressmen and senators are afraid of him. —Harry S. Truman
Even Richard Nixon was afraid to fire Hoover. He was the original untouchable.
Hoover did not personally place wiretaps or steal personal information, rank-and-file FBI agents did—those same hardworking, loyal Americans who the contemporary pundits set on a pedestal. It is not my intention to paint today’s FBI agents with the Hoover era brush, but I would call your attention to the inescapable fact that from 2008 to 2017, FBI recruiters must surely have had an overarching liberal agenda. The FBI’s attrition and new hire rates are apparently classified, but in nine years it would not be hard to imagine a significant ideological shift.
Robert Mueller served as director of the FBI from 2001 until 2013, longer than anyone except J. Edgar Hoover. Mueller was criticized by George Bush, who nominated him, and Dick Chaney for failing to incarcerate terrorists in the US. Obama extended his term by two years. Comey succeeded Mueller as FBI director, and Mueller and Comey are personal friends. Those are the facts, and I draw no conclusion from them. However, it is abundantly clear that Comey lied to Congress and to the public. Mueller interviewed Comey, and thus far, Comey has not been indicted, whereas Flynn has for the same crime.
In conclusion, I see no need to blindly glorify the FBI. History shows that FBI agents are perfectly capable of corruption. The most frequent failing of politicians, and people in general, is to ignore history. It always repeats itself.
Highly Opinionated 