The FBI is a subordinate agency of the DOJ, hence, both are under the head of the Executive Branch, the POTUS. History.com explains:
On July 26, 1908, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is born when U.S. Attorney General Charles Bonaparte orders a group of newly hired federal investigators to report to Chief Examiner Stanley W. Finch of the Department of Justice. One year later, the Office of the Chief Examiner was renamed the Bureau of Investigation, and in 1935 it became the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Various histories of the FBI, including this one by the FBI, dance around the issue, but it appears the FBI was not established by statute. It is not a creation of Congress. A few Secret Service agents were hired to be DOJ investigators and from that beginning, the FBI was born.
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Graphic: X Screenshot
Congress has always had an adversarial relationship with the FBI, generally seeing it as an enemy of individual liberty, and particularly during the Hoover years as a holder of blackmail information against congressmen. More recently, FBI stonewalling of congressional investigations and its use by Democrats/socialist/communists (D/s/cs) against their domestic political enemies, has cemented that love/hate relationship. When the FBI is doing their bidding, it’s love. When it’s upholding the Constitution, it’s hate.
With the confirmation of Kash Patel as FBI Director, to the horror of many in Congress, a new realization has dawned: an organization created by the Executive Branch may be abolished by the Executive Branch. Congressional D/s/cs are panicked. Should Donald Trump abolish the FBI, who will do their dirty work? Should he reform the FBI to the point it actually upholds the Constitution and won’t act as an American Stasi, the downside for D/s/cs is essentially the same.
Patel has hit the ground running:
He wasted no time turning his bold rhetoric into action. Following his blistering speech on Friday, he ordered the transfer of 1,500 agents and staff from the bureau’s Washington, D.C., headquarters to field offices across the country.
Roughly 1,000 will be sent to high-crime cities that the Trump administration designated, where they can focus on fighting crime instead of political games. Another 500 will be reassigned to Huntsville, Ala., which is widely seen as D.C.’s version of exile.
Moving FBI headquarters completely out of DC isn’t necessarily off the table. This also has D/s/cs, and not a few FBI personnel, panicking:
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Graphic: Truth Social Screenshot
Bongino, a former NYPD officer, Secret Service presidential detail agent and conservative podcaster, is frightening indeed to corrupt FBI functionaries. With Patel, Bongino will ensure corrupt FBI agents are fired and honest agents supported–and encouraged to expose corruption. The dishonest are worried because Patel and Bongino are experienced and know the ways of DC. They won’t be easy to fool or manipulate.
As bright as the potential of Patel and Bongino might be, no one should be thoughtlessly optimistic. FBI functionaries and their Congressional masters/extortion victims will fight tooth and nail to keep every instrument of their corrupt power, and more than a few federal judges will help them.
It’s not going to be fast or easy. Americans would like to believe most field agents are honest, honorable people who would not think of violating the rights of Americans, nor would they use their power to politically persecute anyone. The problem is when two agents show up at their door, how can they possibly know they’re two of the honest ones? Biden handler era experience demonstrates the FBI is entirely untrustworthy. If that accurate public perception can’t be turned around, then what?
The FBI could be dismantled and however many honest agents remained reassigned to other federal agencies like the Marshall’s Service, which does not have a bad reputation. Or another, stand alone, agency could be stood up in its place with statutory safeguards against the abuses for which the FBI has become infamous.
No doubt, Patel and Bongino are determining whether the FBI is salvageable. If it’s not, Trump will abolish it. He apparently has that authority, but it’s going to be one of many pitched battles with Congress and the courts.
Time will tell whether America will be the winner or loser.
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Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.
This article was originally published at www.americanthinker.com
