I investigate government corruption pretty often. The first thing I learned when I worked on these cases is the misconception that the government will always cover for and protect their own. Not always so. Depends on how high up the hierchial ladder they've climbed. The low hanging fruits get plucked and hung out to dry pretty quick. In the end, a government employee who commits a crime is an just another criminal. They're not the protected mythical species they often portend themselves to be. Once the American people begin to realize this they will be able to get rid of the evil and corrupt people working for our government. The hardest part is just to get the steamroller rolling. After that it becomes a lot easier.
The Russian word for what you describe is the nomenklatura, those politically well-connected to the regime whose higher-ups prefer that their underlings are corrupt and compromised and malleable.