Dear Director Wray,
How do you recover the trust of someone who has been betrayed? Conservatives like me admired
the FBI. They were the good guys, the G Men, protecting the country from criminals. They
were Ephrem Zimbalist .. the good guys. They were
there to make sure that our Republic was safe, the first defense against the
enemy seeking our overthrow.
What a
shock to learn that the people who sought to overturn an election, to stage a
coup against the republic were leading members of the FBI, the CIA and the NSC.
Like the spouse who lies to you about being unfaithful when
the truth is obvious, what do you do? What
is the appropriate reaction when a creature like Strzok gaslights the American
people and says, like the cheating spouse, “who are you going to believe, me or your lying eyes?”
Strzok wrote that he “loathed Congress.” But he says he didn’t mean
that. He swears he has “the utmost
respect” for Congress. Which version of Strzok is telling the truth, the private or the public FBI executive?
Strzok wrote that he and unnamed others would join to “stop”
Trump from ever getting elected. That might appear to be the definition of a
conspiracy — or collusion — by a top FBI official to interfere in an election. But
Strzok testified to Congress that he has no memory of writing those words. And,
in any event, the “we” referred to the American public —not to anybody in the
FBI.
After breaking faith with the American people, it insults
our intelligence to state, as you did after the IG report: “Nothing in the
report impugns the integrity of our workforce as a whole, or the FBI as an
institution.”
According to press reports you maintain that "The FBI
that I see is tens of thousands of agents and analysts and staff working their
tails off to keep Americans safe from the next terrorist attack, gang violence,
child predators, spies from Russia, China, North Korea and Iran." I hope that’s true, but that does not address
the question of senior FBI officials discussing ways that the election of
Donald Trump can be stopped … by them, not at the ballot box but by officials of
the FBI. The worker bees may very well
be busy doing all the things that the American public expects of them. But when the top echelon of this powerful law enforcement organization interferes in an election, referring to the rank and file
is deflection.
Director Wray, you told Congress that “we don’t focus on
polls.” Public opinion should not drive criminal
investigation. However, polls are a
reflection of what people believe. If it
doesn’t concern you that a majority of the FBI’s most stalwart defenders now believe
that the FBI is trying to “frame the President” you - and we - have a serious
problem.
You should be concerned that
people have lost faith in the FBI. It’s a fact that law enforcement, to be
effective, requires people to believe that they are fair. People must believe that people with badges and guns are our friends, not
an occupying army. People must have faith that the FBI is there to protect our
institutions, not collude to overturn a
democratic election.
It is not enough to hunker down, rely on the remnant of
reputation and hope that the storm will pass. These are not normal times and extraordinary actions must be taken to restore the image of integrity on which law enforcement depends. The erosion of faith in the FBI as a politically neutral investigatory
agency has been destroyed by the investigation of Mrs. Clinton’s
emails and by the investigation of Mr. Trump. Denial and cover-up is counterproductive. People in the FBI must be held accountable for their
actions. Crimes have been committed for
which others have been sent to prison. It
is unacceptable to simply fire people for actions that have seen ordinary citizens arrested
and imprisoned.
The FBI can recover, but only if it is willing to hold
itself to standards to which it holds those outside of the agency, the “little”
people who now doubt the integrity of the FBI.
If you, as the Director, are able to rise to this occasion, difficult as
it may be, you will rescue the agency.
Otherwise, please go.
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