Important points:
In his 60 Minutes interview, former acting FBI director McCabe said:
There were a number of things that caused us to believe that we had adequate predication or adequate reason and facts, to open the investigation. The president had been speaking in a derogatory way about our investigative efforts for weeks, describing it as a witch hunt… publicly undermining the effort of the investigation.
https://www.lawfareblog.com/thoughts-andrew-mccabes-60-minutes-interview (emphasis added).
Is not this statement troubling, if not Orwellian? Think or speak the wrong thing—and the government investigates you? In a 2017 blog post on New Reform Club, I wrote about this issue as follows:
I just read his post. Well done.
Ditto.
Death6
Try asking a Democrat why they are fine with the FBI going after Trump like this, given history like them spying on MLK, etc. They’ll say, well, he wasn’t a Russian agent, but Trump is. It’s the most amazing thing how completely insane the country has gone.
A common theme from the days of Hoover through today is unaccountability, political corruption and ineptitude at the highest levels of the FBI. Most lower-level employees are probably conscientious but the leaders stink. I still think W Bush missed a major opportunity by not firing the FBI and CIA leadership after 9/11.
Next time someone tries to overthrow a duly elected president, I recommend having the book, movie and action figures all ready to go, right from the start, plus exclusive distribution deals with Walmart, Barnes & Noble and a major theater chain (one that also serves food and drinks). Having to wait for all the coup plotters to publish their books, one at a time, has been very frustrating. And I want my Andrew McCabe Action Figure.
I’m still waiting for the Mark Felt action figure.
There is an excellent op-ed in today’s WSJ on this. They really laid it out – the FBIs top people – succinctly and said why this is so troubling. For the top leadership to sit and plot how, using the 25th amendment, removing a sitting President is very troubling. Comey’s exoneration Hillary and her email scandal was outside Justice Dept rules, and then to insulate himself against a Congressional investigation, reinstates the investigation 11 days before the election. The WSJ opines that this cost her the election.
All rotten at the top, but I would agree with Jonathon that your average field agent is ethical and probably shocked at the rot at the top.
[Paywall] https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-fbis-trump-panic-11550508578?mod=searchresults&page=1&pos=3
>I would agree with Jonathon that your average field agent is ethical and probably shocked at the rot at the top.
Then you’re a damned fool. There have been zero whistleblowers, zero resignations. Zilch. None.