I have nothing really to add. After all, this amounts to anecdotal evidence--it's not a poll of the state of mind within the FBI or anything like that. Still, it's a pretty good indication that the atmosphere in top management is somewhat rarefied. I've written in the past of the army of lawyers who, in recent decades, have been "parachuted" into top positions at the FBI, including placing former prosecutors into the Director's office. I spoke of this to Lee Smith, about the toxic, politicized, and antinomian culture that was thus imported. Smith was good enough to include my views in Chapter 15 of his book, The Plot Against The President.
As always happens, these changes in leadership also led to changes in the selection not only of agent candidates but, especially, of those who would rise through management ranks. The rise of the Strzoks and McCabes and Priestaps tells a lot about the cultural state of the FBI, in and of itself.
Showalter writes about some of this at Daily Beast reports presence of conservatives in the FBI like it's a bad thing. Note, of course, that the agents who are quoted, while apparently unapologetic, do feel embattled. Here's the quote from The Daily Beast:
The report released Monday by Justice Department inspector general Michael Horowitz revealed messages between several FBI employees celebrating President Donald Trump’s 2016 victory.
One supervisory special agent wrote via instant message that he was “so elated with the election” and that watching election coverage was like “watching a Superbowl comeback.” The agent later explained his messages to Horowitz’s office, claiming that they thought Hillary Clinton would win and it was “energizing” to see Trump claim victory. “I didn’t want a criminal to be in the White House,” he said.
Hey, that sounds perfectly reasonable to me! A lot more reasonable than the views of the Strzoks, Pages, and McCabes of the FBI world--let alone Jim "So Many Questions" Comey.
Two other FBI agents also expressed pleasure with the 2016 election results. “Shit just got real,” one employee wrote in messages uncovered by the IG report. “I saw a lot of scared MFers on... (my way to work) this morning. Start looking for new jobs fellas. Haha.” The other agent replied, “LOL.” In response, the employee remarked: “Come January I’m going to just get a big bowl of popcorn and sit back and watch.” The other agent replied: “That's hilarious!”
I have to say, I LMAOed when I read that. It gave me just a bit of hope. There's a lot of truth in Bill Haydon's observation to George Smiley that the health of the intelligence services reflects the health--or lack thereof--of a society. And that means there's a long road ahead, judging from the Horowitz Dossier.
"I've written in the past of the army of lawyers who, in recent decades, have been "parachuted" into top positions at the FBI, including placing former prosecutors into the Director's office. I spoke of this to Lee Smith, about the toxic, politicized, and antinomian culture that was thus imported. Smith was good enough to include my views in Chapter 15 of his book, The Plot Against The President.
ReplyDeleteAs always happens, these changes in leadership also led to changes in the selection not only of agent candidates but, especially, of those who would rise through management ranks. The rise of the Strzoks and McCabes and Priestaps tells a lot about the cultural state of the FBI, in and of itself."
GMTA.
I just finished writing something along these lines earlier this AM. It explains why the IG didn't find documentary evidence proving political bias was influencing decisions, because when everyone on the 7th floor is of the same political persuasion, they don't need to be told what to believe, or to do, or why; it's all intuitively obvious if you support one candidate and hate her opponent. It's all so perfectly "normal" when competence and integrity are subordinated to political loyalty in transfer and promotion decisions.
I have always wondered about Strzok; did he really have experience in CI, and deserve the position he held, or was he a political butt-boy who was promoted to the 7th Floor CI, way beyond the level of his own incompetence, because of his blind political loyalty?
And yet, according to IG testimony yesterday, not one FBI person came to him and revealed any wrong-doing that they may have witnessed.
ReplyDeleteHouse members said they heard from FBI agents. Was there distrust of OIG?
Delete"Was there distrust of OIG?" That's sarcasm, I hope.
ReplyDeleteGeneral Flynn is an example of what happened to people not "on board" with McCabe's crew. Flynn worked with SSA Gritz. They were both trashed by the FBI.
No, that wasn't sarcasm. Would you want to entrust years of your life to OIG, with no guarantee that when all was said and done the result might be--well, no one put it in writing, so no criminality?
DeleteAn IG can do good work but the agency director can choose what punishment to take as a remedy.
ReplyDeleteI read about this person earlier this year and just did a follow up. Apparently she is still with her agency. The first link is an IG report and the second is found on the agency's website. The third link I found when I looked at more search results. Apparently she can be a risk-taker because she is seemingly immune to consequences.
https://www.dodig.mil/reports.html/Article/1762417/report-of-investigation-ms-ellen-ardrey-defense-intelligence-senior-executive-s/
https://www.nga.mil/About/Leadership/Pages/Associate-Director-for-Support.aspx
https://www.nga.mil/MediaRoom/News/Pages/Have-the-courage-to-take-risks.aspx