John Nantz: Mostly Peaceful Protests and the Radicalization of the FBI

The election of Donald J. Trump to the Presidency in 2016 ignited a radicalization of the Washington political class. Left-wing sentiments have long existed among members of both parties, but merely simmered during decades of status quo politics. There was no clear and present danger to roil the placid waters of left-wing politics. As long as both parties pursued big government, crony capitalism, and fed the military-industrial complex with perpetual war, all was relatively well — they were content to move in inches, stoking the occasional social fire whenever an appropriate martyr presented himself, manipulating perceptions incrementally through agitation campaigns designed to push American sentiment further left. 

But Trump accomplished the unthinkable. He won a national election. At the heart of Trump Derangement Syndrome is the clear and present threat he posed to the hog trough that has become of the national budget. It’s a trillion dollar purse and all of Washington wants a cut.

The key to understanding Washington politics is fairly simple — just watch where the torrents of money flow. The principle applies to social programs, military funding, and public health initiatives. Wonder why you’re told to run out and get as many COVID boosters as possible? Who stands to profit from all that D.C. pork? 

But, the derangement isn’t limited to just Capitol Hill. Our national law enforcement and intelligence agencies are just as susceptible to the dysphoria produced by a perceived threat to the left-wing agenda. The effects are magnified exponentially when the heads of these agencies are left-wing stooges — the statist proclivities of left-wing liberalism remain relatively dormant until someone arises to threaten their ubiquitous bureaucracy. 

At the outset, one of President Trump’s biggest mistakes was allowing former FBI Director James Comey to remain in office, empowering him to subvert the new administration by colluding with democrats and other heads of three letter agencies. As a Barack Obama appointee, Comey was philosophically cut from the same cloth — politics superseded integrity. 

America witnessed the horrifying results, during a 2016 press conference in which Comey attempted to exonerate Hillary Clinton after reciting a laundry list of her nefarious deeds. Beyond the obvious attempt to influence the outcome of the 2016 election in Hillary’s favor, a radical change in FBI culture was expedited. The liberalism of James Comey and others became radicalized in the face of the threat to their power. A collective fight or flight response activated and a frenzy ensued to depose the “Orange Man.” The Trump Presidency exposed the virulent and pervasive soul-rot.

The James Comey era ushered in an unprecedented level of political gerrymandering — the cabal was assembled along philosophical, not necessarily partizan lines. What often appears as conspiracy is really just collusion born of ideological camaraderie. The stairway to the seventh floor of FBI headquarters is composed of narrow treads, navigated partly by excelling at objective competencies evaluated by a board of peers. The second subjective component is professional reputation. It is somewhat euphemistic, but essentially, if a managerial candidate is known as a competent team player, his or her chances of promotion are inherently greater. A poor professional reputation is a death sentence, usually signaled by a career stall at mid-level management. 

The promotional system currently in place at the FBI has definite pros and cons, however, on balance, it’s an equitable system. The great weakness inherent in the system is the tendency to promote people that align with the prevailing “investigative philosophy” of FBI headquarters. Necessarily, this philosophy is driven from the top down; hence, the tremendous influence the FBI Director has on FBI operations. Additionally, the United States Attorney General, as America’s chief federal law enforcement officer, wields significant influence as the FBI Director’s immediate superior. In essence, the common saw holds true, “birds of a feather flock together.” And, this is at the heart of the radical politicization problem, not just at the FBI but throughout the federal law enforcement and intelligence collection bureaucracy. 

The events following the death of George Floyd in the summer of 2020, merely highlighted the problems inherent in treating elections with laze fair. We’re reaping the whirlwind as Americans sowed to the wind with the election of Barack Obama — a known Marxist and social agitator. Any average American applying for a security clearance would be denied clearance and likely become the subject of a counterintelligence investigation, having the same professional and social associations of Barack Obama. It cannot come as much of a surprise to learn that his appointments to the FBI, CIA, DHS, etc. were individuals harboring radical sentiments. 

The current FBI Director, Christopher Wray, has done nothing to redirect the FBI’s continued politicization. A disappointing Trump appointment, Wray has presided over an FBI which continues to expend an inordinate amount of resources on the January 6th witch hunt. In fact, the current position of FBI leadership is that the same level of resources dedicated to the summer of “mostly peaceful protest” has been dedicated to the January 6th investigations and is, therefore, an equitable allocation. The problem with this statement is that it disproves its own thesis. The summer of “mostly peaceful protests” spanned months of time, involved property damage in the tens of millions, and resulted in the death of at least 30 people. The January 6th event involved some malicious damage, in incidents of federal trespassing, which lasted only a few hours. The only death on January 6th was the result of a U.S. Capitol Police officer shooting and killing an unarmed female, Ashli Babbitt. Applying the same amount of resources to the January 6th event is, on its face, an allocation of FBI manpower far greater in scale and proportion. 

There is no possibility of course correction, so long as political radicals are allowed to remain in positions of power at the White House, in Congress, and at the heads of our national law enforcement and intelligence agencies. Americans have an opportunity in November to begin realigning the political power structure to once again promote fidelity and integrity. There is no quick or easy solution. The battle at the ballot box will require everyone of conscience to engage at the local, state, and federal levels to ensure a secure, accurate, and successful election process.  

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