Said Dan Bongino, in a 2023 podcast, quoted in "How Dan Bongino Would Run the F.B.I., According to Dan Bongino/The newly appointed deputy director of the F.B.I. has a long history of criticizing the bureau and its leadership. He has promised 'dramatic change'" (NYT).
७ मार्च, २०२५
"The corruption needs to be immediately defunded. The F.B.I. should no longer exist as it’s constituted now."
"The mission should be divvied up. The money should be divvied up amongst other agencies that take the oath to their country seriously.”
Said Dan Bongino, in a 2023 podcast, quoted in "How Dan Bongino Would Run the F.B.I., According to Dan Bongino/The newly appointed deputy director of the F.B.I. has a long history of criticizing the bureau and its leadership. He has promised 'dramatic change'" (NYT).
Note: "The job, which does not require Senate confirmation, has traditionally been filled by a senior agent with vast operational experience and a deep understanding of how the bureau’s various divisions work. The last two deputy directors together had more than 35 years of experience before they assumed the role. Mr. Bongino served as a police officer and a U.S. Secret Service agent years ago, but has no experience with the F.B.I."
Said Dan Bongino, in a 2023 podcast, quoted in "How Dan Bongino Would Run the F.B.I., According to Dan Bongino/The newly appointed deputy director of the F.B.I. has a long history of criticizing the bureau and its leadership. He has promised 'dramatic change'" (NYT).
पोस्ट्स
७८ टिप्पण्या:
Mr. Bongino served as a police officer and a U.S. Secret Service agent years ago, but has no experience with the F.B.I."
Oh, he has experience DEALING with the FBI
What he doesn't have is "experience" with assuming that, because he's part of teh FBI, everything they do is great
So good choice by Trump
First thought is - the FBi is so corrupt - filling it's leadership with more corruption "because experienced!" - is not the answer.
I guess that "vast operational experience and a deep understanding of how the bureau’s various divisions work" meant that they knew how to abuse power, direct media, censor or sit on information, and go well beyond their mission to rearrange American, and hence, the world's politics.
Maybe it's time for a new approach? Or...maybe it's time to gut the thing as the only way to rein it in.
its
Good luck, Dan. you've got your work cut out for you.
Was there ever a time when the FBI was not corrupt
End Italics. This Trump Administration understands that the road to hell has it's traffic directed by people who "know how the current system works". We need people who see what's wrong with the current system to direct us off that road.
"The last two deputy directors together had more than 35 years of experience before they assumed the role."
So they were filthy dirty. Like, no shower can ever wash it off dirty.
Fortunately for Bongino, if he makes any mistakes, his relative inexperience will be regarded as a sufficient excuse.
If you wanted to preserve the corruption of an organization, which type of person would you put in this role?
A lot of Democrats complain that Trump's appointments are "not qualified". It was the "qualified" people who ran the country into a $35 trillion debt and politized the government against the citizenry. Keep doing the same and you'll keep getting the same. Frankly, being "unqualified" may be the best qualification of all.
What you will now see is what's known in DC as "co-opting." What you do is you take the fiercest critic of an organization and put them in charge of it. Lo and behold, they will now work very hard to make sure that agency is never unraveled.
It works EVERY time and has NEVER failed.
The first Director of the FBI stayed in power until his death due to the files he had on everyone. The second acting FBI director was there for one day. The third acting FBI Director was forced to resign for helping Nixon's coverup, after the guy who wanted to be the third acting Director, but wasn't, told Woodward and Bernstein all sorts of good stuff about Nixon. I think it went downhill from there.
As a Secret Service agent including years doing investigations, Bongino worked with the FBI plenty, so the NYT gets it wrong again, but of course that was not a mistake.
What Greg said. It is the meaning of "with" when qualifying the experience.
The last two deputy directors together had more than 35 years of experience before they assumed the role.
What were the results of all those years of experience?
@Mikee, who reminded us "the guy who wanted to be the third acting Director, but wasn't, told Woodward and Bernstein all sorts of good stuff about Nixon."
Exactly. The FBI executed a coup against a sitting President of the United States. The press kept this quiet for 40 years before revealing who Deep Throat was.
Now do John F. Kennedy.
The Deputy Director is there to protect the FBI institution FROM the FBI director, the Attorney General and the President. Bongino is NOT there to protect the agency, he's there to clean it out.
A lot of the rationale for the FBI no longer applies. When a bank robber could throw his tommy gun into a Duesenberg, drive over a state line and throw off any meaningful enforcement, a national agency made sense. Technology and professionalization of state/local LE has obviated most of the need. Keep the database people in West Virginia, maybe as a separate DOJ agency. NCIC and the other crime databases are probably the Bureau's single biggest contribution to law enforcement.
The training part of the FBI needs to go away. State/local LE knows more about the trade than the FBI ever will. In most cases, the training is done by retired state/locals. Just let state/locals train each other.
Enforcing Federal criminal law: there is a separate federal investigative agency for each area of criminal law. ATF, CBP, IRS CID, MOUSE. Take away the Bureau's authority in these areas. Maybe move proportionate numbers of FTE's into those specialized agencies. Laid-off FBI agents would have first crack at the positions.
Fed/state/local task forces to attack stubborn crimes like gangs, etc: Are a great idea. Run them without the Bureau. State/local cops already get deputized as federal task force officers. Do more of that. Heck, if a city or state is willing, deputize their whole PD as TFOs. Then they will have the flexibility of taking new cases to either their city prosecutors or the US Attorney.
State/locals are usually short on coppers. Fedgov could encourage deals with states to accredit laid-off FBI agents by putting them through a short state academy. Then they can go be the real police if they so desire. Trump's DOJ will also be changing the paradigm of trying to lock up cops for everything, so that should also help state/local recruiting.
Overseas Legal Attaches: Move those FTEs into the State Department Diplomatic Security Service.
Domestic counterintelligence: May be the hardest nut to crack. We do need it, but we need it someplace where it can be kept from its recent excesses. But we also need to demolish Gorelick walls that keep the information from being used to prevent crime. Maybe another specialized, separate agency, on the MI-5 model, but still under the DOJ? Or maybe under DHS, to keep a more proactive mindset?
Just some ideas.
JSM
"The last two deputy directors together had more than 35 years of experience before they assumed the role."
And their vast experience did not make the FBI a better, non-partisan agency. I will never forget how the FBI continues to lie to the FISA courts, no accountability, no punshment.
"The last two deputy directors together had more than 35 years of experience before they assumed the role. "
in Other Words..
the last two were up to their ears in the corruption and mismanagement that has perverted the Bureau
Captain BillieBob asked...
" Was there ever a time when the FBI was not corrupt" ??
well,
before 1935 the FBI wasn't corrupt..
before 1933 the Division of Investigation wasn't corrupt..
before 1908 the Bureau of Investigation wasn't corrupt..
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Federal_Bureau_of_Investigation#History
"The last two deputy directors together had more than 35 years of experience before they assumed the role."
That means that each one had 17 1/2 years. That is not enough time on the job to be the daily coordinator of a gigantic worldwide agency. There were entire parts of the Bureau that neither of those guys could possibly have had any familiarity with. Plus, they were not eligible to retire, which meant they were subject to moral hazard.
Bongino has more varied experience, he has studied the Bureau as a newsman, and he has FU money so he owes no one anything.
JSM
Unusual, not according to tradition, etc. Novelty might be uncomfortable but isn't necessarily unconstitutional.
I didn't care for Bongino's radio show, but wish him and Patel the best in trying to clean-up/tame the FBI.
>>has traditionally been filled by a senior agent with vast operational experience and a deep understanding of how the bureau’s various divisions work
In any organization, the people who rise to the top are those who reinforce the culture. They see their promotions as validation of both their skill and the current culture, since it picked them to promote over others.
If you think the organization and its culture need changing, these are the WORST people to put in charge of that.
The Left's problem with Bongino is that he does have "a deep understanding of how the bureau’s various divisions work."
Note: "The job, which does not require Senate confirmation, has traditionally been filled by a senior agent with vast operational experience and a deep understanding of how the bureau’s various divisions work. The last two deputy directors together had more than 35 years of experience before they assumed the role. Mr. Bongino served as a police officer and a U.S. Secret Service agent years ago, but has no experience with the F.B.I.”
When your favorite sportsball team is doing well and winning playoff games and championships, any changes to management or coaching are usually promotions from within.
When your favorite sportsball team is not doing well, new coaching or management is always from the outside.
The job, which does not require Senate confirmation, has traditionally been filled by the President with the person of his choosing and with the experience and "deep understanding" that the person brings.
And to my knowledge no one has bitched about this prior to now.
@David53, who wrote: "the FBI continues to lie to the FISA courts, no accountability, no punshment."
The FISA court allow this. So of course it will continue. That is not the fault of the FBI. That is the fault of the United States Supreme Court, which created this unconstitutional Star Chamber out of thin air with zero Constitutional authority to do so.
It is a judicial abomination.
…oh bit the people losing their jobs! Where’s the empathy?
What a disaster. If the FBI is dismantled, who will protect Democrats from their political opponents?
This FBI? Shut it down and start over.
Weaponized institutions need to understand that weaponization will result in extremely severe consequences. Somebody needs to be made example of, and on a short list the FBI and the ATF are very high up there.
btw - dang. I was hoping Bongino said that in 2025 - yesterday.
I get the need for reform, but they'd better pray there is no massive attack/crime that FBI should have prevented.
Lots of distractions and departures right now.
Eveybody knows that Trump picked Patel and Bongino because they declared the FBI had to be blown-up because the agents conducted investigations into Trump's suspicious activities and that of the J-Sixers. Our new leaders have never run an honest-to-goodness investigative function let alone any activity especially as large as the FBI. This is just another effort by Trump to impose and punish anyone who ever provided real evidence of his illegalities.
JSM, I appreciate the discussion of alternatives and generally agree with your primary points. I just wonder which is better: one agency enforcing federal laws or multiple smaller agencies. In most cases, I'd want one for the benefits of competition and limited power. I just know that once an agency is created, even its bureaucracy is pruned to the bone for efficiency; it will grow with roles that are redundant to other agencies. So, do we scrap the FBI for ATF, USSS, IRS CID, CBP, etc... or keep the FBI and get rid of the others? Things to consider as a country with the hope that we become more efficient along the way.
I don't know gadfly, I voted for blowing up the FBI because they ignored the US women's gymnastics team being sexually abused because one of their members wanted a job with the USOC. Then there was also making a to do of the Christopher Steele dossier that they new wasn't credible, yet they used it as evidence anyway to launch a criminal investigation. That's not Trump's suspicious activities, that's the FBIs.
But hey, if Trump picked Patel and Bongino to blow up the FBI as pay back for J6... it accomplishes the same goal.
Please let us know the real evidence that was provided. Give solid examples that don't rely on fruit of the poisonous tree. Or runaway as usual never to answer any difficult question.
Congress created the FISA court. The Chief Justice picks the members.
"The Chief Justice picks the members."
Alternatively, the Court could have announced that the creation of a Star Chamber court was unconstitutional, as it surely was, and refuse to pick its members.
An honest court would have done so.
Weaponized institutions need to understand that weaponization will result in extremely severe consequences.
What we will end up with is an FBI that is weaponized against only Republicans. When Republicans are in charge, the FBI returns to its previous law enforcmement role, only to be rolled out again against Republicans when Democrats inevitably take control again.
So ONLY Republicans will ever suffer the weaponization of the FBI until they accept that they must fight the enemy on the enemy's terms.
"before 1935 the FBI wasn't corrupt.."
Yeah, right. And before yesterday, I wasn't born.
gadfly said... "Our new leaders have never run an honest-to-goodness investigative function let alone any activity especially as large as the FBI."
Dan Bongino taught criminal investigation for 2 years while with the Secret Service.
gilbar said...
Captain BillieBob asked...
" Was there ever a time when the FBI was not corrupt" ??
" well,
before 1935 the FBI wasn't corrupt..
before 1933 the Division of Investigation wasn't corrupt..
before 1908 the Bureau of Investigation wasn't corrupt.."
Yup
Alternatively, you could just say you were wrong.
Jupiter said...
" "before 1935 the FBI wasn't corrupt.."
Yeah, right. And before yesterday, I wasn't born."
Creation of FBI
The following year, 1933, the BOI was linked to the Bureau of Prohibition and rechristened the Division of Investigation (DOI); it became an independent service within the Department of Justice in 1935.[18] In the same year, its name was officially changed from the Division of Investigation to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Wikipedia
“ the time to hesitate is through no time to wallow in the mire Try now we can only lose and our love become a funeral pyre”
There is no longer a need to discuss these issues. Just act and make good things happen.
Die Hard still has the best portrait of the FBI and LAPD hierarchy.
The move surpasses any critique of bureaucracy and the sociopathic power trippers who rise to run these bureaucracies.
We all cheered in the theater when the FBI guys got blown up in the helicopter after they stepped right in to Gruber’s trap. This was in the summer of 1988. I was 16.
The FBI has been a joke a long time.
FormerLawClerk said, "So ONLY Republicans will ever suffer the weaponization of the FBI until they accept that they must fight the enemy on the enemy's terms."
If I'm reading you right, I think we're in agreement that elimination of the bureau is an example of the republicans "fighting the enemy on the enemy's terms".
The institution is corrupted and converged, and Bongino is partially right that it needs to "cease to exist", but not "in its current form". An example must be made before the administration's term is up: a major long-time federal entity needs to be destroyed. If we're lucky, more than one.
Josephbleau: “the time to hesitate is through no time to wallow in the mire Try now we can only lose and our love become a funeral pyre”
On topic only because you made the Doors reference: Ray Manzarek was on Terry Gross some years ago and really riffed on this lyric as an example of Morrison's genius. Worth digging up.
JSM
Leland: "I voted for blowing up the FBI because they ignored the US women's gymnastics team being sexually abused because one of their members wanted a job with the USOC."
My reaction on hearing about this was: How in hell is a doctor sexually abusing his patients a federal crime? Followed by: What possible expertise does the FBI have in sex crimes? And: The abuse took place in a city and state. It's a state crime that a city PD can work.
Not sure if you wanted the Bureau disestablished because they messed up this case, or because they touched it at all. I lean to the latter.
JSM
Also Leland: "I just wonder which is better: one agency enforcing federal laws or multiple smaller agencies."
True dat. Especially because, as soon as you create an agency, you need a certain amount of headquarters overhead no matter how small it is: IT, Public Affairs, Legislative Affairs, HR, etc. Trump will probably remove a lot of the unneccessary HR, but so much of the overhead is really needed.
But balance against that the danger of a national police force. You know who has a national police force? France. Years ago, FBI pamphlets were careful to say "we're not a law enforcement agency; we're an investigative agency." A distinction without a difference, to appease all the Americans very frightened of a national police force.
The inefficiency of separate federal LE agencies may be a worthwhile investment in preventing the development of a centralized instrument of tyranny. Freedom isn't free!
JSM
RideSpaceMountain said...
The institution is corrupted and converged, and Bongino is partially right that it needs to "cease to exist", but not "in its current form". An example must be made before the administration's term is up: a major long-time federal entity needs to be destroyed. If we're lucky, more than one.
Eliminating the agency is not enough. The people who corrupted the agency and used it to attack political opponents must go to jail or hang. They acted like the KGB or NAZI SS. They should be treated as such as a warning to future generations that there are consequences to sedition.
I want the FBI blown up because I saw Peter Strzok's testimony to Congress.
Mr. Bongino served as a police officer and a U.S. Secret Service agent years ago, but has no experience with the F.B.I."
Works for me.
“And their vast experience did not make the FBI a better, non-partisan agency. I will never forget how the FBI continues to lie to the FISA courts, no accountability, no punshment.”
Remember FBI DD (2016-18) Andrew McCabe? You should. His (otherwise married) attorney Lisa Page was sleeping with, and conspiring with, (otherwise married) Peter Strzok. Much of RussiaGate, Crossfire Hurricane, FISA warrants for Carter Page, etc was put together by the three of them around his $75k conference room table. He spent 22 years in the FBI, before being fired by Trump (45).
Achilles said, "Eliminating the agency is not enough. The people who corrupted the agency and used it to attack political opponents must go to jail or hang."
Not disagreeing with you. I don't think that "jail or hanging" will happen for their corrupt leadership, but the annihilation of the bureau, its mission, its budget, and the permanent elimination of its staff would be a compromise I'm willing to accept.
We are not stuck 'in here' with the government and its agencies, they are stuck in here with US.
they'd better pray there is no massive attack/crime that FBI should have prevented.
The FBI's track record on that is not stellar.
"The FBI's track record on that is not stellar."
I'd think that ship has sailed.
FormerLawClerk said...
@David53, who wrote: "the FBI continues to lie to the FISA courts, no accountability, no punshment."
The FISA court allow this. So of course it will continue. That is not the fault of the FBI. That is the fault of the United States Supreme Court, which created this unconstitutional Star Chamber out of thin air with zero Constitutional authority to do so.
***********
per Perplexity:
"The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC), commonly known as the FISA Court, was established by the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) of 1978.
It was created in response to revelations about domestic surveillance abuses by U.S. intelligence agencies in the 1970s, particularly those uncovered by the Church Committee investigations. These investigations revealed that intelligence agencies had conducted improper surveillance of U.S. citizens, including civil rights leaders, anti-war protesters, and political opponents."
So, NOT established by the Supremes, but definitely did NOT address the abuses it was supposed to end.
"The last two deputy directors together had more than 35 years of experience before they assumed the role."
And how did that workout for the FBI's politicization?
At least the female special agent has stopped braying, projecting Diversity (e.g. racism) onto the population. Positive progress. #HateLovesAbortion
OhMiGod, Dan Bongino said something disparaging and bad about the FBI once, and now he's almost in charge !
Looks to me as if the memo has gone out to the team on what our themes need to be this week. Progressive Leftists re-grouping and consulting the Play Book. 'P' is for 'Panic' !
"The last two deputy directors together had more than 35 years of experience before they assumed the role...."
Deputy Director, you say? You mean - like Andrew McCabe?
""they'd better pray there is no massive attack/crime that FBI should have prevented."
A much more likely scenario is that the corrupted FBI would pull another of their many inside jobs (Whitmer Fednapping for example) so as to blame Trump .
Back in the day when I was at HQ Military Airlift Command, (Yes, I am that old) there was an aircraft that had an issue at a sensitive location. All the Command Posts involved chimed in about what needed to be done and of course, since it was a sensitive location, the Col’s and LtCol’s were on the net. It was turning into a shit show as they tried to out do each other. Finally the O-7 at MAC got on the net and ordered, “Everyone over the rank of LtCol is required to get off the net. Major’s and Captain’s, solve this.” And they did. I think Dan is the Major who will do a much better job than some senior agent who has lost touch with the field.
Podcasters running the FBI 🤣
Bongino was heard suggesting: “I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It’s the only way to be sure.”
Musk replied: "I got this."
"Mr. Bongino served as a police officer and a U.S. Secret Service agent years ago, but has no experience with the F.B.I." Oh, I'll bet he has LOTS of experience WITH the FBI. Just not from WITHIN the FBI.
Coaching positions in professional sports have (until recently) been traditionally filled with white men. Because tradition is always best. Right, NYT?
Leland.
Why not let the Marshals Service take up the law enforcement part? Maybe keep the part that does counter espionage.
For me I think the Branch Davidian debacle finally nailed it for me. You don't kill helpless woman and children because you want to make a point.
good on Dan.
JAORE: he sure does.
effinayright: the Church Comission was a fraud. back then, the FBI saved the right people.
@Captain BillieBob; Not sure what your point is. Hoover was Director of the FBI before it was the FBI. And Hoover was utterly corrupt.
Much has been made recently about the "death of expertise." What we are watching, in real time, is the impending death of experience. We're told by the legacy media that Trump's picks "lack the necessary experience." Then we're told just how much experience those being replaced have. The reader is forced to eventually conclude that having experience (different from "expertise") doesn't mean a whole lot if the agency they run is riddled with corruption or is unable to do its job well. I suspect that a Control+F on the article, seeking the word entrenched," will return nothing. Usta be their favorite word, now, not so much.
Good points, John Mosby. The FBI, or rather certain members of it, were effective in the Sixties and Seventies dispersing domestic terrorist groups such as BLA and the Weathermen. But at the same time, there must have been members working internally who abetted the release of leaders of those groups. Wyy would they be exclusively immune to commies too? And given the infiltration we were facing at the time, in Congress too, the Church Commission was a joke. Has anyone besides me here ever read and studied it? Now the FBI is politically correct central. Soon they will be suppressing speech through hate crimes. I had the privilege to do some round-robin speeches with Bongino, and he is a very different person than as he appears in the punditry. Which is a compliment. He also probably ranks as the most professional and skilled Federal agent who has maintained the independence and knowledge to do what needs doing. because I used to infiltrate leftist terrorist groups ( mostly, but not all pikers), and also knew official infiltraters, one very well, I can't think of a more intelligent man to clean up intelligence.
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