OPINION:
Americans count on the Department of Justice and the FBI to uphold the law of the land. In this topsy-turvy era, though, the shifty behavior of these agencies is making it hard to tell the good guys from the bad.
Recent news reports outline the depth of the misconduct. According to a Nov. 8 letter from Senate Republicans to Attorney General Merrick Garland, the Justice Department “engaged in a campaign of covert surveillance” targeting congressional staff members.
Signed by Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Mike Lee of Utah, the missive cited a Freedom of Information Act request from Empower Oversight, a whistleblower support organization, that turned up evidence the department subpoenaed private phone and email records from House and Senate staff members who were attempting to unravel the 2018 Russian collusion hoax that dogged Donald Trump’s presidency.
Characterizing the snooping as a “vendetta campaign,” the senators gave Mr. Garland until Nov. 22 to produce the names of department officials who “drafted, supervised or approved” the subpoenas, as well as the names of congressional employees for whom subpoenas were sought and those for whom subpoenas were actually issued.
In a separate and equally jarring disclosure, FBI whistleblowers charged agency brass with implementing a scheme to squeeze out agents who served in the Marine Corps and other military branches. The reason: Certain behavior, such as refusing to wear a mask, rejecting the COVID-19 vaccine and engaging in religious practices indicate the veterans fit the profile of a Donald Trump supporter and are therefore deemed “disloyal to the United States of America.”
As detailed in this publication on Friday, FBI Security Division Deputy Assistant Director Jeffrey B. Veltri and Assistant Section Chief Dena Perkins purportedly stripped agents of their security clearances, rendering them unable to perform their duties and ripe for expulsion in what appears to be an ideological housecleaning effort.
Finally, FBI Director Christopher Wray admitted “potential conflicts of interest” infected the selection of Greenbelt, Maryland, as the location for a new agency headquarters that would replace the J. Edgar Hoover Building here in Washington.
A General Services Administration senior executive may have used his influence to secure the site in suburban Maryland without disclosing a “previous professional affiliation with the owner of the selected site,” Mr. Wray wrote in a Thursday memo to FBI staff. An official selection panel had recommended a site in Springfield, Virginia, to host the G-men.
Leave it to Congress to reward rather than punish the FBI for its misbehavior. An agent suspended for whistleblowing scorched 70 House Republicans, rightly, for joining Democrats on Thursday in approving the posh, $300 million upgrade to the scandal-ridden bureau’s command post.
“Last year, I brought protected whistleblower disclosures about FBI weaponization to House GOP. They used it to go on TV and get elected. I lost my career and am under FBI investigation. Today the House GOP voted to give the FBI a $300 million HQ. Soulless demons. Go to hell,” Steve Friend posted on X.
Harsh words, but official Washington deserves condemnation when “justice for all” is honored only in the breach.
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