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Robert Mueller, James Comey made FBI a ‘lawless law enforcer’ and a threat to democracy, former agent alleges in new book

Mike German alleged in his upcoming book that while Mueller tried to remake the FBI his own way with zero acceptance for dissent, Comey tried to do away with the body's impartial image
UPDATED APR 3, 2020
Robert Mueller (Source : Getty Images)
Robert Mueller (Source : Getty Images)

Ever since the election of Donald Trump as the president of the US, the political establishment in the country is in disarray. Individuals are at each other’s throats and institutions’ reputations are at stake, thanks to the polarisation that Trump has brought with him to the political and social circles. And now, former Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent Mike German has alleged in his new book that under the captaincies of Robert Mueller and James Comey, the investigative agency has become a threat to American democracy.

German, who had served for 16 long years at the FBI and now is a fellow at the Brennan Center for Justice and senior counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union, is coming up with his book titled 'Disrupt, Discredit, and Divide: How the New FBI Damages Democracy' which will be out on September 10. In it, German has said while the FBI rattled public confidence in justice under Mueller, who led it between 2001 and 2013, his immediate successor Comey (2013-17) almost left it in ruins, according to an exclusive report in Daily Mail.

Though Mueller’s term at the helm of the FBI had preceded the Trump days, both he and Comey have a less-than-normal relationship with the current president. While Mueller was in charge of investigating Russia’s alleged interference in the 2016 presidential election that had the Republican in a corner, the latter had his way in 2017 when he fired Comey as the FBI chief because of political reasons.

‘Former directors made FBI into lawless law enforcer’

According to German, the two former directors of the FBI have made it into a “lawless law enforcer”. In his book, he comments: “The FBI has systemic problems that, left unchecked, make the bureau a threat to the very democracy it is intended to serve.”

German’s words came out at a time when Trump isn’t having a great time with the FBI and his revelations will certainly make the environment tenser. 

Trump had in the past brought allegations that he was being victimized by the FBI’s “witch hunt” in the name of finding a Russian connection in the 2016 presidential election. Comey’s immediate successor Andrew McCabe had also blamed the president behind his firing just hours before his retirement. Another former FBI agent Peter Strzok was also fired after his anti-Trump texts became public. 

Specific allegations against Mueller, Comey

So, what is German’s allegation against the two former directors? 

According to his claims, Mueller, who later became the special counsel in the probe of the Russia link, wanted to make the agency in his own image with zero tolerance for dissent.

The Daily Mail even reported that Mueller ended the safeguards that had been brought in by the Church Committee in 1975 and started a ‘new era of abuse’ against citizens. Under Mueller, the FBI silenced whistle-blowers and created many ‘victims of the FBI’. 

When Mueller had taken charge of the FBI, it had its share of criticisms and the new director was believed to be one who could clean up the mess. But it was just after a week that Mueller took charge, 9/11 attacks happened and the FBI’s image took a body blow. In the wake of the attacks, Mueller had approved targeting of Muslims and Arabs in a ‘disruption strategy’ aimed at tackling terrorist plots. 

According to German, the FBI designed such a strategy to justify government action where no objective evidence showing involvement in terrorism or violent crime existed, only to stop future plots that might never take shape.

On the Comey days, it was alleged that he dumped the idea that the FBI was “impartial” and “apolitical” when he spoke publicly about investigations made into Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton’s email controversy in 2016. German added that Comey violated a "cardinal rule" of the FBI by commenting on Trump's uncharged behavior about the 2016 election that cast a “cloud of illegitimacy” over the latter's presidency even before it took control in January 2017.

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