Trump is right about the FBI -
The ferocity of President Donald Trump's recent attacks on the integrity of the FBI has sent shock waves through an agency accustomed to public adulation in recent years. Sadly, much of the presidential criticism of the bureau may be entirely legitimate.
The FBI has traditionally enjoyed a highly favorable reputation among a majority of the nation's citizens. Despite controversial programs that sometimes employed illegal forms of surveillance and enforcement methods — such as those used on black citizens lawfully protesting racial segregation, individuals in the "red scare" of the 1950s and long-haired students and others protesting the war in Vietnam during the 1960s and '70s — this reputation endured.
And American presidents continued to steadfastly defend the bureau — that is, until now.
The tradition of presidential support was unquestionably grounded at least partially in the fear of J. Edgar Hoover's rumored 50-year political skeleton "dossier," which would undoubtedly make the controversial "Steele dossier" look like child's play.
But Hoover is gone now, and President Trump's persistent attacks have the potential to inflict long-lasting reputational damage to the nation's preeminent law enforcement agency. These criticisms focus largely on FBI fumbles and missteps in the Hillary Clinton and Trump/Russia investigations, which the President suggests were deliberate attempts to sabotage his election and administration. Trump supporters and possibly the President himself say they see the workings of a conspiratorial "deep state" liberal-embedded bureaucracy fiercely resisting any conservative change.
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