There was a time when every kid, and a lot of cops, fantasized about becoming FBI agents.  Its agents were known as the best of the best.

That was then.  After Mid-Year Exam, Crossfire Hurricane, and numerous other scandals, being a part of the FBI is no longer a thing of pride.  Many retired agents admit to being embarrassed and ashamed of what the bureau has become.

When it comes to preventing crime, the FBI has dropped the ball far too many times.  The FBI had credible warnings about the attack on 9/11, the Pulse Nightclub slaughter, the San Bernadino shooting, the Parkland school shooting, and even the Boston Marathon bombing.  Yet somehow failed to take preventive action.

They’re no longer our guardians against public corruption either.  They gave Hillary Clinton a pass for her email transgressions.  They did an investigation in name only, that lasted months.  Oddly, the FBI never served any subpoenas.  The bureau even destroyed the evidence at the conclusion of the investigation.  It’s almost as if they didn’t really want to find anything -- no?

Hillary Clinton, in collusion with the DNC, orchestrated the dirtiest trick in U.S. political history -- the fabricated Trump/Russian collusion tale.  The FBI learned within two months that the whole thing was a setup.  Yet they played along with the plan for three years -- even to the point of affecting the 2018 midterm election.  Their investigation became the famous “insurance policy” against the Trump Presidency.  Rather than ferreting out corruption, the FBI became enthusiastic participants.

Evidence of Biden family corruption is lying around everywhere -- in plain sight.  Hunter Biden is selling kindergarten-level art to Chinese officials for half a million bucks a pop.  His sales started right after his dad was inaugurated.  Where’s the investigation?  For that matter, what’s happening with Hunter’s laptop?  It’s full of incriminating evidence.  We’ve all seen it, and we know the “Big Guy” was getting 10%.  But the FBI has been sitting on it for years.

Eric Swalwell was having an extramarital affair with a known Chinese spy.  From an espionage perspective, it doesn’t get much riskier than that, especially with him sitting on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence.  Has he been investigated?  Nope.  Has his security clearance been revoked?  No again.

Now we’re learning that the FBI is not only turning a blind eye to corruption, but it’s also playing the game for petty personal gain too.  In 2015 the FBI was contacted by a member of the U.S. Females Gymnastic Team with allegations of sexual assault.  Special Agent in Charge Jay Abbot was placed in charge of the investigation.  As a result of an inspector general’s report, we have learned that SAC Abbott made no arrests, asked for no indictments, but did seek employment with the pedophile’s employer -- the U.S. Olympic Committee.  Who cares about little girls when there’s a once-in-a-lifetime job opportunity?

The bureau has developed some impressive expertise at putting on a show for the news agencies too.  They’ve dragged old men (Paul Manafort and Roger Stone), with no violent history, out of their homes at night at gunpoint, by an FBI SWAT team normally used for hostage situations and the arrest of heavily armed and dangerous fugitives.  But CNN did have the cameras running, so they had to make a good show of it.

They raided the homes of Project Veritas reporters and tipped off the press that it had happened.  Again, the raids were done at night, with overwhelming firepower, against reporters.  That’s a violation of the 1^st Amendment, numerous Supreme Court rulings, and FBI policy against leaking details of ongoing investigations.  Of course, it was all done for a good cause, to find a -- wait for it -- missing diary.  What was the federal crime?  Does it matter anymore?

But recently, an even bigger question has arisen.  Is the FBI investigating, or creating crimes?  Over 500 U.S. citizens are being held without bond for the January 6 protest.  We even know that a man named Ray Epps was one of the instigators of the Capitol break-in.  Even though he is clearly seen on security video egging on the attack, he was taken off the FBI’s wanted list when internet sleuths located him.  Is there any chance he was working for the FBI?  Interesting, no?  Isn’t it alarming that we have to ask?

The FBI heroically prevented a conspiracy to kidnap Gretchen Whitmer -- the governor of Michigan.  Just like that, the embattled Whitmer (a Democrat) is no longer on the hot seat for being a COVID tyrant.  Now she’s a victim.  But as details have emerged, things have gotten interesting.  A large number of conspirators were in fact FBI agents or informants.  We’re assured by Special Agent Richard Trask that his people had no hand in instigating or planning the plot.  That would be the same Richard Trask that was fired for beating his wife to a bloody pulp after a swinger’s party.  Color me skeptical, but I’m going to need more than Trask’s word on the matter. 

Won’t it be disturbing if we eventually discover that the FBI had a hand in instigating either January 6 or the Whitmer kidnapping?  If so, it will be the dawn of a new method of law enforcement.  Talk some poor morons into committing a crime, wait for them to do it, and then arrest them.  It’s an efficient system, but not exactly what the American people had in mind when the FBI was founded.

As if corruption and incompetence aren’t bad enough, now they’re even becoming an embarrassment. Fifteen agents were dispatched to investigate a rope that someone thought looked like a noose.  Apparently, inanimate objects have the potential to be symbolic hate crimes warranting federal attention.  It only took them a week or so to figure out that the rope with a knot in it, attached to a garage door, was a garage door pull.  That’s some impressive police work.  But I want to know: What if it was a noose?  Does the FBI really not have anything better to do than investigate knotted pieces of rope?  What is the federal statute against putting a knot in a rope with malice by the way?

We can’t talk about the new FBI without also talking about their integrity -- or lack thereof.  They have treated us to some blatantly dishonest behavior lately.

• Special Agent Peter Strzok lost or altered official interview notes in the General Michael Flynn case.
• Lawyer Kevin Clinesmith falsified evidence to obtain a FISA warrant against Carter Page.
• Assistant Director Andrew McCabe lied to investigators to cover up his role in leaking confidential information to reporters.
• Director James Comey leaked classified notes about a meeting with the president to a friend and the press -- a felony.  When asked about it, he had sudden and complete memory failure under oath.

The FBI’s credibility is so compromised at this point that the judge in the Kyle Rittenhouse trial barred an FBI agent from testifying.  It seems the agent couldn’t explain how he “lost” key evidence.  So much for the integrity thing. 

How does an agent remain an agent, when his testimony is no longer presumed trustworthy?  The FBI has squandered its reputation through incompetence, bias, and dishonesty.  The next time agents take the stand to testify, jurors may not afford them any more credibility than the criminal that cut a deal in exchange for his testimony.  Is that what the FBI wants?  It’s certainly not what America needs.  We live in a dangerous world.  We need them to be what they once were.  But that will be a long road back.

Quentin Smith is a military veteran and retired FBI Special Agent who served in the bureau for nearly 29 years and now lives in Idaho.

John Green is a political refugee from Minnesota, now residing in Idaho. He currently writes at the American Free News Network (afnn.us).  He can be followed on Facebook or reached at greenjeg@gmail.com.

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