The FBI needs to take a long, hard look at itself. It is no longer the respected institution it was back when I was a Deputy Sheriff on patrol in South Florida. It has allowed itself to be infiltrated by political animals who don’t care about the mission of the agency, its integrity, or how it is viewed by its ultimate masters, the American People.

As I’ve written previously, the Federal Bureau of Investigation was once looked upon by other law enforcement agencies as the “High Priesthood of Law Enforcement.” Their crime lab —our National Crime Lab — was the Gold Standard for forensic analysis. Then things changed. In a 2015 article, no less than the Washington Post claimed that the National Crime Lab had given flawed testimony for two decades — testimony that had real consequences for real people.

The Justice Department and FBI have formally acknowledged that nearly every examiner in an elite FBI forensic unit gave flawed testimony in almost all trials in which they offered evidence against criminal defendants over more than a two-decade period before 2000.

Read: FBI admits flaws in hair analysis over decades

Let’s fast forward to December 9, 2019 and the release of a Department of Justice Inspector General Report, where the IG found at least “17 errors or omissions” in FISA court surveillance applications

Attorney General William Barr seized on Horowitz’s findings, declaring in a lengthy statement that the report shows the FBI’s counterintelligence investigation was conducted in an inappropriate manner given the evidence the bureau had on hand.

The inspector general “identified at least 17 significant errors or omissions in the Carter Page FISA applications and many errors in the Woods Procedures” which guide the FBI’s FISA process,

Read: DOJ inspector general finds 17 ‘significant errors or omissions’ in Carter Page FISA applications

The article continues

“The Inspector General’s report now makes clear that the FBI launched an intrusive investigation of a U.S. presidential campaign on the thinnest of suspicions that, in my view, were insufficient to justify the steps taken,” Barr said in a statement.

Reason Magazine was more blunt — from their lede (emphasis, mine)

Make no mistake: The report chronicles serious wrongdoing with respect to the FBI’s surveillance of Trump campaign advisor Carter Page, and is ultimately a damning indictment of the the nation’s top law enforcement agency. All Americans should have serious concerns about the FBI’s respect for constitutional principles, ability to carefully evaluate conflicting information, and its competency in general.

Read: The IG Report Is a Huge Blow to the FBI’s Credibility. Why Is It Being Treated Like Vindication?

Aside from attempting a not-so-soft coup against a candidate and later, a sitting President, the long term and ultimately more egregious sin, is that political corruption has infiltrated yet another of our hallowed institutions. As I noted in a previous article, our great military, widely respected by just about all Americans, has also been infiltrated — infiltrated by folks such as Army Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Vindman. Vindman’s testimony revealed that he considers an unelected and unaccountable “Interagency,” the last word on Foreign Policy decisions, not his duly elected Commander In Chief.

Read: LTC Vindman: Involving the Military in Political Fights

Read: The Deep State Does Exist and Vindman Is Proof

The FBI is now officially in that same category. Inspector General Horowitz’s report, although obviously flawed regarding its final assessment regarding political bias, clearly showed blatant malfeasance on the part of several hand-picked, “cream of the crop” FBI and DOJ employees. Those much-vaunted “apolitical career civil servants,” once known as “The High Priesthood of Law Enforcement” have been well and truly defrocked.

They should remain so until there is a thorough house cleaning from the top of the agency to the bottom. At a minimum, each and every employee of DOJ and the FBI should be put on “the box” and questioned as to political bias in their official capacity. Those who don’t demonstrate that they can do their jobs despite their political preferences should be summarily fired. It’s time to restore trust in America’s once-premiere Law Enforcement Agency.

Mike Ford, a retired Infantry Officer, writes on Military, Foreign Affairs and occasionally dabbles in Political and Economic matters.

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