[AMERICANTHINKER] The fact that the FBI has lost its way has been on public display for at least five years now. Truth be told, it probably strayed off course way before that. But during the Trump Presidency, it became too obvious to ignore. It has been involved in everything from the creation of an "insurance policy" against the peaceful transition of power, to the targeting of parents as domestic terrorists for the sin of disagreeing with school boards. How did our "premier law enforcement agency" stray so far from its motto of fidelity, bravery, and integrity?Simply put, the FBI’s current state is the result of horrible leadership. Any organization with a solid culture of ethics can survive a bad leader, but the FBI has had 20+ years of ethically challenged leadership. Over time that leadership influences hiring, firing, promotions, and training. Given enough time under bad leadership, even the strongest foundation of ethics will crumble, and be replaced by a culture of corruption -- as we’ve seen with the FBI.A significant shift in the culture of the FBI happened under Robert Mueller. Mueller came up through the ranks of the DoJ -- holding the positions of Assistant U.S. Attorney, U.S. Attorney, and Deputy Attorney General. He was appointed to lead the FBI, by President George W. Bush, in 2001, just one week prior to 9/11.
Almost immediately upon being sworn in as the director, Mueller began politicizing the bureau by bringing in outside people to staff high-level positions. One of those people was the execrable Andrew Weismann, who at the time had just been in the headlines for his own scandals. Yet that was just fine by Mueller. He appointed Weismann to be the special counsel to the director in 2005. The ethically challenged Weismann eventually became the FBI general counsel in 2011, to provide legal guidance throughout the FBI, and nobody saw any problem with that.
