Democrats Need FBI Reform Too

Democrats need to come to terms not only with their lawfare failures against Donald Trump. They need to recognize their stake in cleaning up the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The eternal problem of intelligence agencies: Empowered to classify information to hide it from America’s enemies, they can hide their own misdeeds and blunders from the American public.

Example: using “objectively false” (the Justice Department inspector general’s words) and likely fabricated Russian intelligence as a pretext for improper actions in the Hillary Clinton email case, which bumblingly may have elected Mr. Trump in 2016.

Terry McAuliffe—Clinton loyalist, former Democratic Party chief and then-Virginia governor—asked the right questions in the aftermath: Who fabricated an apparently fake email exchange between a liberal activist and Democratic Party official, which was then cited in some kind of Russian document?

In what “cubicle in Moscow,” he asked, and with the help of which “treasonous” Americans was this fraud perpetrated to spoof then-FBI Chief James Comey in his chaotic, election-changing actions?

One thing we’ve learned since 2017: The Russians perhaps weren’t involved at all. Mr. Comey may have seized on flotsam from the internet (handed over by Dutch intelligence) to justify actions designed to “fix” the Clinton email problem.

Democrats, these actions weren’t in loyalty to your interests but aimed at protecting the FBI, at keeping the world friendly to the intelligence community’s current institutional structure and membership. If not for the collusion misdirection, Mr. Comey’s original catastrophic 2016 meddling would have been the scandal of the century. A bipartisan Congress would have said “never again” and enacted the clearly indicated legislative reform: Strip the FBI of its counterintelligence mission, which it abused to make itself a rogue actor in presidential politics.

At the moment, this article is not behind the paywall. Given that that may change, I have had ChatGPT generate a summary of the article.

Here it is:

The article argues that both Democrats and Republicans must confront the failures of the FBI and the intelligence community in handling sensitive political matters. It highlights key incidents involving the FBI’s use of false or dubious intelligence to influence U.S. politics, including:
1. The Clinton Email Case (2016)**: The FBI allegedly acted on fabricated intelligence, possibly sourced from internet "flotsam," to justify actions that affected the election outcome. This blunder may have inadvertently helped Donald Trump win the presidency.
2. The Steele Dossier and Russia Collusion Narrative**: The FBI leveraged unverified intelligence to undermine Trump after his election and during his re-election campaign, portraying him as compromised by Russia.
3. Hunter Biden Laptop Story: The FBI downplayed the laptop's significance and allowed misinformation about Russian involvement to spread, aligning with the Biden campaign's narrative.
The article claims the FBI's actions were less about serving partisan interests and more about protecting itself and its institutional power. It argues that these actions have undermined trust in the FBI and raised concerns about its role as a "rogue actor" in U.S. politics.
Broader Themes:
- Failure to Reform: The article calls for stripping the FBI of its counterintelligence mission to prevent its misuse in political affairs.
- Siloviki Comparison: The FBI and U.S. intelligence agencies are compared to Russia’s "siloviki," shadowy security elites who control politics behind the scenes.
- Bipartisan Responsibility: The article suggests Democrats, despite benefiting politically from FBI actions, should join Republicans in reforming the intelligence community to protect democracy.
Criticism of Leaders:
- The article criticizes Donald Trump for not declassifying documents that could expose the FBI’s errors, suggesting he protected the FBI to avoid tarnishing his own 2016 victory.
- It critiques Democratic figures like Rep. Ted Lieu for proposing measures that would increase the FBI’s influence instead of addressing its politicization.
Conclusion:
The article calls for bipartisan cooperation to reform and discipline the FBI and the broader intelligence community. Without this, the problems of politicization, incompetence, and corruption will continue to grow, further undermining American democracy.

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