“…[L]et me address recent unfounded attacks on the professionalism of the FBI and Justice Department agents and prosecutors. I will not stand by silently when their integrity is unfairly attacked. The men and women of the FBI and the Justice Department are dedicated, patriotic public servants. Every day, they protect the American people from violent crime, terrorism and other threats to their safety, while safeguarding our civil rights. They do so at great personal sacrifice and risk to themselves. I am honored to work alongside them.”

Those were part of Attorney General Merrick Garland‘s comments during a statement to the press in the aftermath of the outrageous raid at former President Donald Trump’s home at Mar-a-Lago. He made his statement, reassured Americans that the “faithful adherence to the rule of law is the bedrock principle of the Justice Department and of our democracy,” refused to answer any questions, and then walked away.

Noticing and having a national conversation about the fact that the FBI has been weaponized against perceived opponents of the Democrats and the American people is not the problem. Garland was defensive and agitated, and then decided painting the FBI as a victim would be a good look as he chastised people daring to question the integrity of the wayward agency.

It is true that the majority of FBI agents are stalwart and honorable law enforcement officers. Ergo, the best thing FBI leadership can do is stop using trustworthy agents in the field as human shields against criticism and demands for accountability.

Why are the American people looking funny at the FBI? The last seven years revealed something many of us ever really wanted to believe—that our federal law enforcement agency had been weaponized as a partisan force.

To that point, RealClearInvestigations reports “The FBI division overseeing the investigation of former President Trump’s handling of classified material at his Mar-a-Lago residence is also a focus of Special Counsel John Durham’s investigation of the bureau’s alleged abuses of power and political bias during its years-long Russiagate probe of Trump,” reported RCI.

The rogue behavior of the FBI and DOJ concerning Trump is not an anomaly. Last week Americans were surprised by this news because we know the FBI would never lie to a judge in order to get a warrant: “FBI Misled Judge in Obtaining Warrant To Seize Hundreds of Safe Deposit Boxes. New court documents show that the FBI planned for months to seize and forfeit property found inside safe deposit boxes in an L.A. raid under the pretext of doing an inventory,” reported Reason magazine.

We also know that the FBI would never mislead a judge, let alone Congress, about their very serious investigation into Trump being a Russian spy and toady, and yet: “Newly Declassified Document Indicates FBI Misled Congress on Reliability of Steele Dossier,” said a 2020 statement from the House Committee on the Judiciary.

We know this corruption couldn’t be going on for years on other issues, too, right? But then there’s this Associated Press headline from 2018: “FBI agent misled magistrate judge to obtain search warrant in trade secrets case, federal judge says.”

And we know for sure that the FBI would never lie to the secret FISC court to spy on a presidential campaign, and yet: “In a blistering order, a judge on the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) accused the bureau of providing false information and withholding materials that would have undercut its four surveillance applications,” reported The Hill in 2019.

Of course this corruption is new and is a one-off artifact of Trump Derangement Syndrome and would never happen again. Except it was happening…20 years ago and they were caught and still clearly never stopped. A shocking headline, at the time, from the New York Times in 2002: “Secret Court Says FBI Aides Misled Judges in 75 Cases.” This is not a typo—they were caught lying to the court a generation ago. It should concern us that the current court was surprised to find they were being as badly lied to by the FBI as their predecessors were decades ago. Why any judge would feel inclined to take the FBI seriously especially on issues surrounding Donald Trump, is beyond reason.

Discussing the historic pattern of the FBI does not make us extremists any more than concerned parents at school boards are terrorists. In fact, the abandonment of this country would be found in the apathy of saying nothing when corruption is making a mockery of the rule of law.

The FBI’s dilemma is exclusively the fault of those who created a culture of making certain agents feel comfortable lying to judges, courts, and the American people. Some agents at the FBI have had enough. According to Representative Jim Jordan (R-OH), the ranking member of the House Judiciary Committee, over a dozen FBI whistleblowers are providing details to Congress about the political bias consuming and controlling the bureau.

Jordan told Fox News, “‘Fourteen FBI agents have come to our office as whistleblowers, and they are good people,’ Jordan said. ‘There are lots of good people in the FBI. It’s the top that is the problem. Some of these good agents are coming to us, telling us what is baloney, what’s going on — the political nature now of the Justice Department — God bless them for doing it — talking about the school board issue, about a whole host of issues.’”

God bless them indeed. Let’s hope even more stand up for their agency, the rule of law, and the honesty and respect the American people deserve.

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