On May 17, 2017, former FBI director
Robert Mueller was appointed as special counsel to investigate the supposed
Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election. Now, over a
year and a half later, this has become the equivalent of the Energizer battery
that keeps going on and on forever. Not only is it apparent
that there is no prosecutable collusion case, but what the investigation has
proven is that the world's finest law enforcement agency, the FBI, has become
blemished, stained, and tainted. The Mueller probe and the FBI
leadership have become contaminated by an anti-Trump bias, improper leaks, and
text messages between senior FBI officials showing their own form of
collusion. American Thinker interviewed Jim Kallstrom, the former
assistant director in charge of the FBI office in New York and a
twenty-eight-year veteran of that agency, on his views.
The political attitude of some in the FBI led to an investigation
started by then-FBI director James Comey on March 20,
2017. Kallstrom says, "I personally don't understand why there
is a special counsel at all, because the statute is very clear that there needs
to be a criminal element. This was started as a counterintelligence
investigation, so there was no legal justification to have a special
counsel. It also states very clearly that there should be no
conflict of interest. Bob Mueller took the position even though he was
a close friend of James Comey. Now this investigation is about two
years old, and there is no evidence of collusion. I am saddened that
the FBI has played a role in perpetrating this falsehood."
Having served with him on his advisory board for a number of
years, Kallstrom always thought of Mueller as an "honest and a forthright
guy, even though I did not agree with a lot of his policies. For
example, he changed the managing of investigations from the field offices to
bringing everything back to headquarters in Washington, which Comey
continued. You might wonder why more agents did not come
forward. This is due in part to headquarters closing down the field
investigations so Comey and McCabe and Strzok could control it with a small
number of people involved. Let's remember: these guys had the power
over the field agents."
Kallstrom is disgusted with the obvious bias among some in the
FBI's leadership. He points to the fact that James Comey, the FBI
director at the time, drafted an exoneration statement of Hillary Clinton
before the FBI had even interviewed her. "I cannot believe
there was no authorization for a grand jury. Instead of having a
press conference explaining how this was all wrong and then resigning, Comey
decided to dance with the devil. They were devising a way to
exonerate her despite compelling evidence that she [had] committed crimes under
the Espionage Act in her mishandling of classified documents on her private
email server. In my view, this was one of many things that cost confidence
in the FBI, and I think it is going to take a long, long time for it to regain
its status. Why? Because it is a huge obstruction of
justice. Do you know all the co-conspirators were in the same room
for interviews? This is unheard of, and the interview with Hillary
Clinton was a joke and a farce."
Peter Strzok, still working in the FBI, has
shown complete disregard for the Constitution. "I would
argue: how did Mueller not know whom he chose to work this
investigation? He showed no common sense in accepting the job with
his conflict of interest and then hiring these FBI partisan
people. Appearances should matter. Although I don't know
Strzok personally, I judge him by his actions. Those texts are
extremely damaging – when he said 'terrifying' on the possibility of Trump's
election; his role as 'protector[] of the republic'; and the most damaging of
all, 'I want to believe [that] the path you threw out for consideration in
Andy's office – that there's no way he gets elected – but I'm afraid we can't
take that risk. It's like an insurance policy in the unlikely event
you die before you're 40[.]' As far as I am concerned, he is not
someone who should be carrying an FBI credential. In my view, he
committed federal felonies and has shown he is unable to be fair and
accurate."
Regarding James Comey as FBI director, Kallstrom has nothing good
to say. "Under his leadership, the FBI became
stained. He is a totally dishonorable person. He was not
only complicit in the IRS investigation, but actually assisted them when they
stomped on American citizens' rights by putting fear in them for no
reason. Comey's FBI also did nothing about Benghazi [and] Fast and
Furious and had a double[-]standard with the investigation of Hillary
Clinton."
He furthermore notes, "Arrogance has no pinnacle higher than
James Comey, who is weak, driven, and egotistical. He is an example
of why the FBI director should never ever come from the Justice
Department. In retrospect, I think there have been way too many FBI
directors from the Department of Justice. Instead, an agent should
have been appointed as director, someone who was steeped in knowledge of
criminal investigations. I think it was a fatal decision for the
bureau when he became FBI director. Under both Mueller and Comey,
the FBI suffered in reputation and leadership, considering those they brought
forward and their obvious bias. They seemed ... concerned [only]
about political gain."
To restore credibility in the FBI, Kallstrom would have
investigations of the leadership. "When I was working with the
FBI, we never involved ourselves in politics. What changed was the
eight years under Obama. I have received numerous emails, texts, and
phone calls from those inside the FBI and also retired agents who are unhappy with
what is going on and has gone on. These bad eggs must be removed
from the bureau. It would be a disgrace to let McCabe and Strzok
remain at the FBI and be able to collect full benefits."
What he wants Americans to understand is that it should never have
been about the FBI; rather, it should be about the rule of law and following
the evidence where it may lie. "The majority of the agents who
work there want to solve cases, from kidnapping to extortion to drugs arrests
to espionage. The bad eggs have caused many to question the
trustworthiness and reputation of the bureau, which affects the reputable
agents. This is extremely harmful to them. I want to say
without hesitation that the majority of agents are a credit to this country."
The author writes for American Thinker. She
has done book reviews and author interviews and has written a number of
national security, political, and foreign policy articles.