To say that Federal law enforcement is under a microscope right now would be an understatement. 

Having likely calculated there was no chance Donald Trump would ever be elected to the Presidency again because they were convinced that CNN and MSNBC were modern-day Delphic oracles, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (F.B.I.) jumped headlong into raiding an ex-President’s home and acting as the enforcement arm of the Congressional investigators of the January 6th, 2021 protest at the U.S. Capitol, the results of which were seemingly so exculpatory that all the records of the Congressional investigations were deliberately and permanently erased to avoid the embarrassing truth. 

Now concerned that a lot of pointed questions are being asked about their conduct (and profoundly worried that President Trump’s appointees are now in charge of both the Department of Justice and the F.B.I.) rank and file Bureau agents are apparently now hiring lawyers to protect them from the repercussions of their potentially concerning official actions.

Over the past several years there has been a good deal of talk about the “politicization” and “weaponization” of the F.B.I., which might give the erroneous impression that these are new problems. However, the template for using the enormous powers of the Bureau for reasons other than law enforcement was set by its first Director, J. Edgar Hoover, who turned it into a personal fiefdom that he used to intimidate his political enemies and terrorize those whom he deemed disloyal Americans.

Great power always provides great opportunities for the great abuse of that power, and the honorable and diligent work of so many Special Agents and F.B.I. officials was often overshadowed by Mr. Hoover’s many vendettas and paranoid fantasies. Whether he was busily compiling his own dossiers on government officials or using agency resources to send an anonymous blackmail letter to Martin Luther King Jr. in an attempt to induce him to commit suicide, the iron fist of Hoover’s F.B.I. was an oppressive presence until his death in 1972, after 48 years helming the Bureau. 

Unfortunately, the template of using the powers of the F.B.I. for reasons that exceeded the parameters of simple law enforcement was already well in place by the point of Hoover’s passing. Whether we are talking about the bookends of one of Hoover’s subordinates, William Mark Felt, deciding to be the infamous “Deep Throat” source during the Watergate investigation in 1973 to today’s Agents taking a lead role in spying on average Americans and raiding people’s homes based on their political beliefs—particularly if they object to the social engineering of Liberal officials—not much as changed over the past 50+ years. The politicization and weaponization of the F.B.I has been baked into the Bureau’s D.N.A. since its birth.

So how can we solve this problem?

Although some might like to believe abolishing the F.B.I. is feasible, it most certainly is not. Crimes such as drug trafficking, child exploitation. and terrorism are national problems that extend beyond the reach of local and state police departments, and very few Americans believe we should hamstring law enforcement with jurisdictional chaos. 

Our problems with the F.B.I. and its work typically arise when, often at the request of Congress or partisan appointees, it starts levying criminal charges over issues that are actually social, cultural, political, or religious differences that must be settled in the marketplace of ideas—not the courtroom. Trying to silence the many to soothe the feelings of the few is both Orwellian and un-American, and these efforts only exacerbate tensions and promote extremism within our country by legitimizing censorship and turning reasonable disagreements into felonies. 

Setting F.B.I. Agents on parents who are concerned about the child’s school curriculum or citizens who question the fairness of an election is foolish and destructive, unless these cases involve violence or threats of violence that are real and not the products of an overactive imagination. We should all be allowed to speak freely and openly so the veracity of our opinions and arguments can be evaluated by our fellow citizens. Silence is most definitely not golden in a thriving democracy, but it warms the hearts of both the despotic and the merely petty. The function of the F.B.I. must not be to placate the worst among us.

Law enforcement at any level will always involve individual judgements that are many times determined by our human weakness and blindness, so to expect that scandals mishaps, and quandaries can be wholly avoided is unreasonable. Even worse, decisions sometimes need to be made in a split second under enormous stress and with incomplete information, and even the most experienced law enforcement professional will be subject to fatigue, fear, and frustration on the job. Mistakes will be made, and the wonder is that they are not more frequent than they are.

However, just as the airline industry has created a culture where problems can be openly acknowledged and readily rectified, so must we set up systems that will allow F.B.I. Agents, administrators, and staff to engage in self-criticism, self-examination and self-improvement without fear of retribution. To err is human, but to continue to err because you fear admitting error is simply unacceptable. 

It could be reasonably argued that the partisan critics who are politicizing and weaponizing the mistakes and misjudgments of the F.B.I. are today the greatest impediment to necessary reform. Creating a more open, honest, and effective F.B.I. will require a cultural shift that is made no easier by grandstanding politicians and sensationalist news outlets who care not a bit about the long-term integrity and functioning of federal law enforcement—but love braying in the spotlight. 

A little more circumspection and introspection on the part of elected officials and reporters, who sometimes seem to forget that tearing down an institution is much easier than improving it, would be a welcome relief to all Americans who want to see our current crime crisis curbed by ethical and effective law enforcement