ArgumentThe FBI Needs to Be Reformed
Bob Bauer and Jack Glodsmith write that “the FBI has taken a large hit in its credibility over the last four years, due in large part to Trump’s unprecedented, reckless, and routinely baseless attacks on it. But the Bureau has also hurt itself by its conduct of the investigation of Trump campaign officials and of Hillary Clinton’s emails when she was a presidential candidate.” There are many destructive pressures today on the legitimacy of the American electoral process, and “Our democracy cannot afford the added delegitimating burden of botched investigations related to elections that inevitably give rise to suspicions or charges of political manipulation,” they write.
DOJ Inspector General Michael Horowitz’s report last week told a complex story about extraordinary events related to the investigation of officials in Donald Trump’s 2016 presidential campaign.
Bob Bauer and Jack Glodsmith write in Defense One that “the FBI has taken a large hit in its credibility over the last four years, due in large part to Trump’s unprecedented, reckless, and routinely baseless attacks on it. But the Bureau has also hurt itself by its conduct of the investigation of Trump campaign officials and of Hillary Clinton’s emails when she was a presidential candidate.”
Bauer and Goldsmith write that “The report shows that serious reforms are vitally needed in how the FBI and the Department of Justice, of which it is a component, open and conduct investigations—especially those related to politicians and political campaigns.”
Bauer and Goldsmith note that in their forthcoming book, they detail how the Trump presidency has exposed a range of problems in the institution of the presidency that demand reform. Most of the reforms concern this president’s behavior in various areas (financial disclosure, conflict of interest, press relations, and the like) or his relationship with the Justice Department (including the rules to ensure the Justice Department’s independence, and a properly functioning special counsel).
They add:
But not all of the needed reforms concern gaps in law, norms, and accountability revealed by Trump’s aberrant behavior. Horowitz’s four reports on the 2016 election make clear that reform is urgently needed in how the FBI and the Justice Department open and conduct investigations related to politicians and political campaigns. There are many destructive pressures today on the legitimacy of the American electoral process, including an explosive social-media environment, a splintered polity, and foreign-influence operations. Our democracy cannot afford the added delegitimating burden of botched investigations related to elections that inevitably give rise to suspicions or charges of political manipulation.
