Column By Mike Bibb
“That was the first time for me that I lost confidence in him. And then I really started to question his integrity.”
Stuart Kaplan, former FBI agent, Newsweek, Nov. 15, 2024
I suppose certain career bureaucrats and appointed officials eventually suffer from a false perception they are irreplaceable — that the wheels of government would cease to turn without their guiding presence.
The Biden Administration seems to have been overly populated with these arrogant individuals. Including Joe, who is of the opinion he is so knowledgeable and managerial astute that he can spend nearly half his time at the beach or elsewhere while the country is run by his acolytes.
As a result, the economy has faltered, law and order enforced by local district attorney opinions, the two-thousand-mile southern border has become a staging area for millions of illegal crossers, our money continues to lose value as prices rise, and a former President — now reelected to his second term — has been the target of never-ending harassment, accusations, indictments, trials, assassination attempts, and government plots.
Including, but not limited to, schemes hatched by the nation’s premier law enforcement agency, the FBI, under the direction of the Department of Justice.
FBI Director Christopher Wray, appointed in Trump’s first term — 2017-2020 — has recently lost much of his credibility. Even among several current and former FBI employees.
Wray’s professional ethics saw a decline when Trump’s residence in Florida was raided by a couple of dozen armed FBI agents. Supposedly, the incident was a reaction to Trump’s refusal to return certain documents the Department of Archives believed it had jurisdiction over.
Keep in mind that these were paper documents kept in a locked room at Trump’s home, guarded by Secret Service agents and Trump’s own security.
As President, Trump believed he had the lawful authority to choose documents he wished to keep.
They were not the nuclear codes, illegal weapons, hordes of unlawful drugs, or other items threatening national security.
Nor, unlike Joe Biden, was Trump suspected of pilfering secret documents, storing them in several places and exposing their contents to other individuals.
Yet, Trump’s search warrant was so inclusive as to allow agents — wearing sidearms — to inspect several areas of his home, including bedrooms and adjoining bathrooms.
Were they expecting a shootout with the former President or his Secret Service detail? How irrational could it get?
Wray’s most recent blunder was before Congress when he testified he wasn’t sure Trump’s ear injury came from an assassin’s bullet, in spite of video, audio, and Secret Service evidence.
Shortly after, Trump suggested Wray resign.
However, since Joe is President until Jan. 20, 2025, Wray may wait until Trump is sworn in before calling it quits. I suspect he realizes he’ll be fired anyway, so why not resign on the 20th instead of hanging around until the 21st to be booted out?
Besides, Wray won’t be alone. It’s very likely several others within the DOJ and FBI will be joining him.
I’m sure they realize “change” is a fact of life in Washington — one administration exits as the new one enters. Multiple job resumes are probably already on file. Including Wray’s
Wray has seen a decline in respect by other FBI personnel. Commenting in the same Newsweek article, former agent Stuart Kaplan said after Wray’s “ear injury” remark “That was the first time for me that I lost confidence in him. And then I really started to question his integrity.”
How far will Trump go in cleaning up the FBI? Some have suggested he may completely do away with it, citing a need to rid it of corruption and prejudice. — see *footnote —
“Weaponization” of the FBI, DOJ, and IRS has become an irritating boil upon the principles of justice and equal treatment under the law. What better example of these transgressions than the ordeals Trump and his family have suffered over the past eight or nine years?
If it wasn’t for the fact Trump is a wealthy businessman with access to numerous attorneys and accountants, provide a distinct advantage over most people who’ve become entangled with these departments.
Perhaps the most glaring example of Trump’s die-hard attitude was his bloody face and raised fist while shouting “Fight! Fight! Fight!” following his attempted assassination.
No single incident probably contributed more votes to his reelection than his near-death during a Pennsylvania afternoon campaign rally.
Who else in American politics has displayed the courage and determination to continue to stand on a public stage after being nearly shot to death and encouraged the crowd to fight on?
I can’t think of one.
The was the same campaign rally FBI Director Christopher Wray said he wasn’t sure Trump was injured by an assassin’s bullet — ignoring the shooter fired eight rounds with a scoped rifle from a prone position atop a building’s roof, within 150 yards of Trump. He was instantly killed by the Secret Service after wounding Trump and murdering another individual.
Even more bizarre, the assassin’s presence was reported by several individuals prior to the shooting, yet no action was taken to arrest him.
Still unanswered is how the assassin was permitted to get so close to Trump without the SS, FBI, or local police intervening to prohibit the shooting.
Let’s not forget this is Biden’s DOJ, FBI, and Secret Service departments. Why do all three appear totally screwed up in performing their assigned duties? Especially when it comes to dealing with Donald Trump.
All these miscues can’t be by accident.
“And now we’ve seen in the last four years under Biden and Attorney General Merrick Garland and Christopher Wray, I think the reputation of the FBI has gone tremendously downhill because it’s become clear to just about everybody, including me and my former colleagues, that the FBI became very biased going after conservatives, pro-lifers, allies of Trump, all of that.” — Tom Fuentes, former FBI Assistant Director, Newsweek, Nov. 2024.
Mr. Fuentes summed up in a single paragraph several of the very reasons why the FBI and other agencies of government have steadily witnessed an erosion of public confidence.
Along with the Federal Emergency Management Agency — FEMA — which reportedly refused aid and assistance to hurricane victims displaying Republican or Trump signs on their property. This convoluted bit of logic has stirred a hornet’s nest in Florida and North Carolina. According to whistleblowers, these actions have happened before.
Then, with two months left in office, Biden suddenly authorized Ukraine to launch US-made missiles into Russian territory. Effectively dragging our involvement a little deeper into the fray.
What’s Joe’s thinking? Does he have a viable strategy in escalating the war, or is he intentionally trying to get back at Dems and Republicans who denied him a second term?
One never really knows what is spinning inside his head. I’m not sure he knows, either.
What will we find out next? Thankfully, tired old Uncle Joe Biden and his merry band of misfits are on their way out. It will take years to repair the damage his administration has done.
Democrat Political Strategist James Carville has acknowledged this fact. If he recognizes it, then it’s pretty much a certainty many others do, too.
Joe’s Administration has been a cluster-flub from Day One!
The Federal Bureau of Investigation — FBI — was officially formed in 1935 as a federal investigative agency created from the original Bureau of Investigation of 1908.
Currently, it consists of 35,000 employees with nearly a $10 billion annual budget (FY 2021).
Editor’s Note: On Wednesday, FBI Director Christopher Way announced he would resign at the end of President Joe Biden’s term. Way is a Republican who was appointed to his position by then-President Donald Trump in 2017.
