The Right Side: The FBI Is Not the Same as It Once Was — Better or Worse? You Be the Judge!

By J. Gary DiLaura

FBI, Retired 

I’ve written many columns under the moniker, “THE RIGHT SIDE”, that the FBI “has changed, significantly”, from when Bob Mueller became FBI Director (2001 to 9-4-13), through to the day James Comey was fired, 5-9-17.

In the time period from 2001 to 2017, 18 years of Mueller and Comey, together they destroyed the greatest crime-fighting law enforcement agency in the world… my opinion!

What it took to create in 76 years,1925 to 2001, Mueller, Comey and people like Andy McCabe, Peter Strzok, Lisa Page and a few DOJ lawyers destroyed!

Agents that I have spoken to who served both before and after the Mueller years agree that the change was from crime fighting to Intel gathering… at the expense of crime fighting and the reputation of the FBI.  Those who were appointed during Comey’s Directorship don’t seem to know the difference! Many of this new era of agents, go on the street, unarmed, a big mistake, in my opinion… why… because they wrongly believe they don’t need them. Well what if another agent gets in trouble and needs help?

And if you are wondering how I know, it’s because some of “them” have told me personally and friends and relatives of some, have said the same thing, as well as some police officers!  Interestingly enough, even the “hearsay” info is that they find it terrible that some… not all…  go unarmed!

If they get in trouble, who are they going to call …911… like the FBI office answering system recommends? Unless they changed what Comey did to the phone answering system, when you call the FBI Office near you… it directs you to call 911, like your doctor’s office, if it’s an emergency… and that is no shit!

As sad as it is, if an army never suffers casualties, it’s a safe bet it probably has not been in combat, although, fortunately, we suffer less and less in combat because of technology, training and equipment. The same holds true in law enforcement and the facts prove it.

From 10-11-1926 to present day, 91 FBI Agents have died in the line of duty and are on the FBI Wall of Honor.

From 10-11-26 to 9-1-1999…a 73 year period, 54 Agents were killed.  Of the 54 Agents killed, 41 were killed in gunfights (76%) and 13 in vehicle and plane crashes!

From 9-2-1999 to 7-27-20220…a 21 year period, 37 Agents died. Of the 37 Agents killed, 1 was from gunshot wounds (.03%), 17 from the results of their heroic actions during 9-11 and 19 during training exercises.

Compare the dates of Mueller 2001 -2013 and Comey 2013 -2017.

I am not saying we need more agents shot, before some ignorant reader even makes that comment. I am saying that when it comes to crime fighting, casualties are unfortunately part of the job! The FBI has gone from a lot of crime fighting to almost nothing! And as I have said before, actually making arrests and mixing it up on the street is a big part of OJT, On the Job Training!

An agent must make arrests and conduct a lot of investigations to stay safe and to stay sharp.

Mueller changed the FBI from that which made the FBI the best crime fighters to Intel Gatherers…and that is a fact. He directed the FBI from what is necessary to be good criminal investigators… cases to investigate and make arrests…  to Intel gathering.

Now understand this… I am not saying that the FBI should not be gathering Intel and acting on that Intel, in the United States. We called Intel; “Security work.” That has always been a part of the FBI but it never was the biggest. With 911, Mueller made Security the biggest part of the FBI, permanently… and I believe the “permanent “ part was a big mistake!

During the time after 9-11 and up until the FBI got a handle on what we, the US, was up against…Islam… Security should have been the biggest part. We needed new laws, as well. I called for laws to fill the gap between Due Process and the War Powers Act.  Up until the Patriot Act we had two sets of Rules to follow; Due Process (tell them their rights) and the War Powers Act (shoot first, ask questions later). There was nothing “in-between”!

I wrote, before the Patriot Act, that technically, under our Rule of Law, Japanese pilots shot down during Pearl Harbor, should have been told their rights… as ridiculous as it sounds. That’s because there was no Act of War declared!

The Patriot Act isn’t perfect, as we all now know … but it was better than a sharp stick in the eye, of the US!

It left too much room for abuse for one thing. It allowed James Comey, using the guise of Russia, scare tactics and “classified” BS, to create a phony Counter Intel case against the Republican Party… not just the President… and use the FISA Court and FBI as political weapons.

The FISA Courts recognized the abuses and tried to counter them by warnings they issued to DOJ, FBI, CIA, NSA, as recent as Oct 2016 and by making agency heads be held accountable by signing the FISA wiretap applications and affidavits!

That’s where we are now… holding the heads and some of the “”bodies” of those agencies accountable… but many should have ALREADY been indicted.

The Probable Cause is there and it is substantial… so get the damn indictments done… now!

Mr. President, after the next election, replace FBI Director Wray with a former agent who served in the years before Mueller, and who still has the “cutting edge”. They are out there.

Order him to investigate the crimes that made the FBI great… like bank robbery, interstate thefts and fugitives, and many more high volume cases while at the same time expanding terrorism investigations as they will not go away as long as Islam is at war with the world!

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