Kerby Anderson

What should our elected officials do with the FBI? Charles Cooke tries to make the case for dismantling the FBI. Some suggest that the FBI and Justice Department merely have a few “bad apples.” Others argue that these bureaucracies are a whole orchard of bad apples.

The current examples of FBI overreach are significant. He begins with a quote from New York Times columnist Bret Stephens who is appalled at the fact that a high-profile politician could be “convicted in the court of public opinion of some of the more heinous behavior imaginable” until the Justice Department finally realizes the case has fallen apart.

Of course, you can add the well-known case of the FBI raiding the home of Donald Trump. And there are lesser-known cases, like when two dozen FBI agents raided the home of a pro-life activist in Pennsylvania with guns drawn terrorizing the man’s wife and seven children. Charles Cooke says the raid was “extraordinarily disproportionate” but then adds that “the FBI thrives on disproportionality.”

On my radio program, I recounted some of the past examples of FBI behavior that have come under criticism. During the 1950s and 1960s, many of the FBI targets were civil rights activists and then anti-war activists. I have read that the FBI collected 17,000 pages of material on Martin Luther King, Jr. and even tried to persuade him to kill himself. After the death of John Lennon, it was revealed the FBI had collected 281 pages of files on him including song lyrics. There are also written orders calling for government agents to frame him for a drug bust.

Concerns about the structure and actions of the FBI go back more than fifty years. It is time for a congressional investigation.