Since his first term in office, President Donald Trump looked at federal law enforcement as a weapon against him. Now, his second administration may look forward to responding to a type.
Last week, the spread of confusion and anxiety through two colleges attracted President Trump’s anger. VIP officials in the US Department of Justice and FBI have been forced to leave or reset in recent days, according to news reports. Reports say this high -level recycling can develop into a broader cleansing of the FBI employees, says reports, targeting the agents participating in the investigation of Trump supporters who assaulted the American Capitol on January 6, 2021.
The fine details about how leading law enforcement agencies in the United States are still unclear. However, FBI extinguishing reports have occurred after the removal or re -assignment of senior Ministry of Justice officials last month. On Tuesday, the FBI leaders provided Trump administration officials with details of 5,000 employees who worked in investigations on January 6. Earlier that day, two groups of unknown FBI agents filed a lawsuit against the Ministry of Justice from publicly launching this information.
Why did we write this
The federation of FBI agents, which some sees as a means of repairing the agency, is concerned about its ability to maintain the safety of the public and to be a politically independent.
The turmoil follows years of allegations by Mr. Trump and his supporters that they have been targeted because of their political beliefs.
The FBI has undergone a major organization before, but experts say the extent of the extinguishing of the Trump administration that it is now thinking about the agency.
Legal experts and former FBI agents – even those who criticize the agency’s actions in recent years – express their concerns. They say that widespread shooting may cause more problems than it is permissible, not only reduces the agency’s independence from politics, but also disrupts its ability to maintain the safety of the public.
I voted for President Trump every three times. The former FBI, the former FBI, says everything that is happening is not what should happen. “If they want to launch the number [of agents] I saw [in the news]It would restore the FBI years. “
The Ministry of Justice or the FBI had permanent leaders from Tuesday. The US Senate has yet to vote on Mr. Trump’s candidate for the FBI director, Cash Patel, the former public prosecutor Federal and Trump alternative. Pam Bondi, the former Public Prosecutor of Florida, was confirmed as of Tuesday night to be the American Public Prosecutor.
Mr. Patel and Ms. Bondi previously mentioned that the judicial system had unlike Mr. Trump. Now, their potential subordinates in the future may face similar loyalty tests.
Removal and investigations
Exactly the number of FBI’s customers who have been exposed so far is unclear, but reports started late last week.
Friday – about 24 hours after Mr. Patel He said The Judicial Committee of the Senate that “all FBI employees will be protected from political revenge” – The Trump administration has started efforts to remove the agency’s employees and investigate it with relations with the president and his supporters.
On that day, Emile Bov – Acting Deputy Public Prosecutor and former personal defense lawyer for Mr. Trump – Brian Drskol, Acting Director of the Acting Bureau of Investigation, ordered the removal of eight senior officials of the agency, NBC News I mentioned. Mr. Pov also requested a list of all current FBI employees who “at any time” worked on January 6, Washington Times I mentioned, “To determine whether any additional procedures for employees are necessary.”
That list was due at noon on Tuesday, CNN I mentioned. This comes after a week after more than ten officials of the Ministry of Justice related to the criminal investigations that included Mr. Trump, because they are because they are It cannot be trusted To implement his agenda “honestly”.
The FBI declined to comment on this story, saying that the agency could not discuss employee issues. According to news reports, at least six officials of senior officials were expelled or asked to resign, including agents responsible for field offices in Miami and Washington.
These cities are at the heart of Mr. Trump’s investigations: one of them involves his illegal ingredients for classified documents and the other in the January 6 attack on Capitol.
Mr. Drickol and other officials have retracted the Trump administration requests. “It includes thousands of employees across the country,” said Mr. Drichol in response to the list due on Tuesday.
During the weekend, some agency staff received a Wipe 12 questions Inquiries about their work in the investigation on January 6, ABC News I mentioned. Former agents said that the blanket requests appear with political motives, and they are not fairly targeting the minimum levels of the FBI. The employees are required to include the job title; When, and if, they worked in the January 6 case; And “if they were involved in the arrest of a suspect on January 6, she testified in a trial, witnessed interviews, and was monitored on the suspects and more than that,” according to L. Washington Post report.
Legal experts say that the shooting agency employees because of their participation in cases on January 6 may be illegal.
“Certainly, at the level of the line, you don’t get the option of what you are working on,” says Javed Ali, who worked at the FBI for 11 years and is now a professor of public policy. “Will you remove these people if they work in these cases, even if they do not do so for any party or ideological reason?”
The necessary reform? Or “disinfection”?
Although the past few days may have brought confusion and intimidation to the FBI employees, it does not seem to have brought widespread cleansing – so far.
The agency was previously fixed, in response to the political controversy and the new criminal activity. As for an institution that has lost the confidence of the public in recent years – At least among Republicans There is what justifies the reform now, as some retired agents say. Jim Widik, a former special agent at the FBI, indicates a raid on Mr. Trump’s home in Florida as part of the investigation of classified documents and large numbers of immigrants who illegally cross the southern border as a failure of the agency.
“Some of the violations that have occurred in the past ten years should be done,” he added. “If this cleansing should be talking about, I don’t know if this is the correct way to contact things.”
Safety first
Former agents say the wide removal of political motives can increase the FBI’s reputation. Most importantly, it can hinder the agency’s ability to maintain the safety of Americans.
The possibility of shooting is widely at the country’s leading local law enforcement agency at a time He faces more threats than everExperts say.
With all these procedures, employees and structural issues [going on]Does this affect the current task? Professor Ali, who is studying at the University of Michigan, asks.
The last large agency’s renewal came after September 11, when the director was then Robert Muller The FBI reorganized To determine the priorities of anti -terrorism. Experts say the agency’s leadership is free to focus on new priorities, but it is likely that the increasing focus in one field means a decrease in the focus in others.
Professor Ali says: “There are differentials and risks,” said Professor Ali. “If there are major changes in the FBI, we would like to believe that the administration is considering the effects of national security.”
The possible cleansing of the possible FBI, if it appears to be driven by political revenge, also endangers the agency’s efforts to preserve the culture of political independence.
from C. Edgar Hoover To Watergate, the agency had a history of corruption and political influence. Douglas Charles, a professor at Pennsylvania State University, who is studying the history of the FBI, says the half -century was different. He adds that the last reaction of officials such as Mr. Drichol is evidence of that new culture – the pressure he feels – and he adds.
It is a “50 -year independence culture”. “this 1738811990 Under a threat.
Ketlin mentioned Babkok from Washington and Henry Jas from Austin, Texas.
