Free Republic

It’s going to go like this:

SCOTUS: So, are you familiar with the Special Counsel statute?

Smith: Yes, Justice Alito.

SCOTUS: And you understand that any action brought by the government is dependent on that statute being fully realized.

Smith: Ah, yes, certainly, Justice Alito, it comports.

SCOTUS: So what would you call any action brought by the government which acts under color of authority but in fact is purveyed by someone who is not eligible to be a special counsel? Isn’t that fraud?

Smith: Well, Justice Alito, that seems theoretical.

SCOTUS: Is it? So you see yourself as having taken this role in full compiance and eligibility with the statute?

Smith: (coughs) Ah, the government requests a recess.

Want to reform the FBI? Here's What You Do on the First Day.

1. Remove FBI from their role as briefer and coordinator/facilitator of classified meetings and activities in the US Congress, and reassign this to federal officers attached to ONDI. - FBI has been using this role to monitor congressional activities and maintain awareness of all procedural and political actions occurring in the Congress, and has exploited its knowledge to develop countermeasures to any effort to reduce or degrade the FBI's power base. They maintain extensive insider relationships with members of congress and related staff who have been coopted into serving as informants and insiders outside of the oaths of office they hold. There are currently about 160 liaison agents from the FBI embedded in congressional activities. This is essentially an intelligence-gathering activity staged against our own government. Remove them immediatelyand bar them from all congressional operations and proceedings unless official presence is required.

2. Restrict FBINet resident applications and data to only those things which are classified in nature. FBI hides unclassified and administrative records and other date within its secret collateral network which otherwise would be subject to FOIA and administrative validation.

3. Eliminate the FBI classification guide and require them to use ODNI classification. - The FBI uses its own created classification guide to provide shielding from scrutiny of records and administrative processes at their discretion. Eliminate their guide.

4. Revoke FBI authority to assign administrative penalties for criminal violations of professional conduct, and transfer legal oversight to ODNI using referrals to DOJ, not DOJ oversight. One look at the quarterly OPR email on OPR actions would be enough to shutter the agency. The FISA and NSL abuses are rooted entirely of an in-house performance system which values results over methods, and encourages cutting corners on due process and constitutional rights.

5. Eliminate classification or restriction of public disclosure of the DIOG and create a legitimate departmental policy manual with binding statements using the words “must” and “shall”. - The FBI is an investigative agency, not a law enforcement agency. They routinely apply selective judgment and decision-making which ignores criminal conduct of suspects in favor of expedited resolution.They will disregard, suppress or destroy evidence which impacts their narrative or infringes on their political influence, seeking investigative outcomes to cases which are most favorable to them. Include clear statements about what agents MUST do and CANNOT do. Solicit an Attorney General's Opinion on the mission of FBI, binding it to very specific channels of activity and engagement, and de-conflict/clarify its alignment with DHS. Make all mission assignments pointed and articulate, and eliminate those mission statements which are nebulous and allow for latitude and discretion in judgment.

6. Establish procedural standards for how investigations are triggered and registered as “investigations”, and require disclosure of all details as allowable by law to the US Congress without obfuscation or obstruction. Remove all FBI administrative alignment with DOJ which manifests in form of FBI officials bringing DOJ attorneys with them to testify in front of congress, and using them to shield themselves from legal culpability.

7. Remove all classifications from information and data addressing basic administrative processes used to shield FBI from public disclosure. The claim that “sources and methods” will be compromised, or that they6 cannot comment on ongoing investigations without accoutabiliy for their conduct should not exempt them from being responsible for HOW they interact administratively internally or with DOJ. Make deliberate overclassification a federal felony.

8. Refuse to nominate or consider anyone put forth for FBI Director who is a former agent, US Attorney or Federal Prosecutor. The FBI Director role going forward should be a Federal Judge, and the Deputy Director should be the Inspector General, subject to independent oversight and review. Force the agency to be outside the circle of commiseration on prosecutions, plea deals, suspect negotiations, or turning suspects into informants to spare embarrassment for lapses in abiding by constitutional rights. Bar the FBI from offering cash incentives for people to bring forth information the agency would otherwise be unable to obtain through legitimate processes.

9. Bar the FBI from invoking classification on routine criminal investigations and other activities where no such classification should be applied, thereby eliminating the practice of concealment of process failures and procedural lapses which violate policy. Subject all elevations of classification to be reviewed independently by DNI prior to FBI transferring records or information to FBINet.

10. Eliminate FBI's management of Uniform Crime Reporting (UCRs), NDEX (National Data Exchange), and the Internet Crime Complaint Center, and prohibit them from making jump-start grants for systems established regionally using FBI rules of operation.

11. Establish an immediate termination policy without right of rebuttal for any and all agents who act under the color of authority through intimidation, pretext, coercion and disregard for constitutional processes, and bar them from negotiating plea deals with individuals. The display of deadly force in routine search warrant service would be prohibited unless the effort involves suspects known to have committed gun crime violence prior to the service, and require approval of the Director to deploy weapons in the field beyond the assignment of the standard FBI sidearm. Require all warrants and searches to be facilitated by the county sheriffs and district attorneys without prior negotiation or agreement on allowing the FBI to unilaterally take control of scenes without legal observation.

12. Recall all liaison agents, and prohibit the Bureau from assigning, personnel posted to the news and entertainment industries who provide guidance and input on news, publications, and TV/movie scripts and production. This should include all telecommunications service providers, cable providers, and personnel embedded in such industry operational spaces with access to user records and account information. New: This includes partnerships with any and all social media companies, search engines, and other internet-based platforms. No coordination or review of content should be permitted, and no direction or influence should be permitted where FBI can prompt interest in content and influence social media monitoring or shadowbanning.

13. Cancel all Consent decrees with state and local law enforcement, and cancel all county memoranda or legal permissions granting FBI operational access within counties without the direct knowledge, permission and authorization of respective county sheriffs.

14. NEW: Require differentiation between the “domestic intelligence” responsibility and “foreign intelligence” through a new and updated Attorney General's Opinion stating the FBI mission space. FBI has NO domestic intelligence authorization but has turned the quagmire between itself and DHS into a word game. Bar FBI from using the “intelligence case” designation for all investigations involving US Persons and US Citizens without a clear observable nexus to a foreign power. Require all such cases to be reviewed for persistence and renewal authorizations under penalty of termination. Have those case propositions reviewed by ODNI before those cases can be activated. “Russian Collusion” doesn't qualify.