How the FBI lost the confidence of millions of Americans

 John Green:

All large organizations suffer from the occasional presence of bad actors. The FBI is no exception. But it managed to retain a good relationship with the public in spite of its flaws because it was still solving rather than creating crimes.

But something fundamentally changed in the last five years. The Comey clown car arrived in the center ring and unloaded under the spotlight. As the public watched the comedy of James "The Cardinal" Comey, Andrew McCabe, Peter Strzok, and Lisa Page, searching for phantom Russian colluders under the bed, while actual Russian colluders cheered them on, we knew we needed to take a closer look. The examination has been shocking.

The "Midyear Exam," the bureau's name for the Hillary Clinton email investigation, was a farce. No subpoenas were issued, central figures were given immunity without cooperation, evidence was destroyed by the FBI, and then the attorney general had a clandestine meeting with "Slick Willy" Clinton — the husband of the target. Surprise: No charges were filed. "The Cardinal" Comey held a press conference and announced that even though Hillary had broken numerous laws, she didn't mean it, so he was giving her a pass. It must have been an accident that an email server, containing classified documents, appeared in her bathroom — with a support staff.

"Crossfire Hurricane" was the investigation into alleged Trump collusion with Russia to steal an election. Within a couple of months, the bureau knew that the whole thing was a hoax created by Hillary, yet the investigation continued for three years — eventually transitioning into a special counsel investigation. Peter Strzok called "Crossfire Hurricane" the bureau's insurance policy — against a Trump presidency. It was a good way to show off for his mistress, Lisa Page — a rabid anti-Trump FBI lawyer.

The "Midyear Exam" was a cover-up, and "Crossfire Hurricane" was a setup. Both were exposed by the clown show the FBI put on. Now the public is paying attention. Conspiracies that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago seem entirely plausible now.

We were told that the FBI heroically thwarted a kidnapping attempt of Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Then we learned that there wasn't one informant involved. There were twelve informants — involved in every aspect of recruiting and planning. Next, the lead agent, Richard Trask, was fired from the FBI after being arrested for beating his wife after a swingers' party. Prior to his arrest, Trask was the public face of the investigation — and filed the original criminal complaint under oath. Last month, Will Cain, sitting in for Tucker Carlson, revealed that two more agents (unnamed) have been removed from the case and will not be testifying. Was the kidnapping a thwarted crime or a setup? It seems fair to ask, doesn't it?

Then came the "January 6 insurrection" investigation and the mystery of the missing provocateurs. A number of individuals are seen on video inciting the riot. Yet none of them is among the hundreds who have been arrested. One such individual, Ray Epps, is clearly seen on video encouraging the crowd to enter the Capitol. Epps was included on the FBI's "most wanted" list — that is, until internet sleuths identified and located Epps. Was he summarily arrested? Nope, he was removed from the "most wanted" list and is a free man to this day. Again, we have to ask — was January 6 a set-up?

The fact that these are reasonable questions to ask shows how damaged the FBI's relationship with the public has become. Corruption within the FBI is undeniable — to everyone but Christopher Wray and Merrick Garland. The Democrats aren't raising the issue because the bureau is currently doing their dirty work. That's shortsighted and will not last. A corrupt organization eventually evolves to serve only itself. Everything else must be broken to its will — including the Democrat party.
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One of the problems with the FBI is that they believe some things that are not true and they pursue cases that have no merit for political reasons.  It took John Durham to uncover the biggest political fraud in history in a case that should have been brought against Hillary Clinton and her cohorts to try to overturn the 2016 election.  Their failure to prosecute those responsible for that political fraud is an ongoing black mark on their reputation.  They wasted millions of dollars and agent resources trying to make a case against Trump when they should have been making one against Hillary Clinton et al.