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> Attorney-General and the Director of the FBI are both political appointees hired and fired by the President of the United States. That's only a part of it. T
by rt4mn 4y ago
> Attorney-General and the Director of the FBI are both political appointees hired and fired by the President of the United States.
That's only a part of it. The FBI as an institution pushes for and against legislation, and when they push they can shove. They play a meaningful role in the actual drafting of the law.
This is not like an inherently evil thing, usually their political agenda, such as it is, it to strengthen laws that make it easier for them to do their work, and push back against laws which restrain their power. They work to protect the interests of their institution, which is understandable, but that necessarily enters into the policy realm.
> You’re meshing the appointed leadership with the field agents, but rank and file FBI and most of their bosses are law enforcement whose assembly line is Justice, not policy, and they’re the guys with the guns, not the creatures with the pencils.
I'm not. When I say "the FBI", I speak of the institution as a whole. Everyone from the rank and file to the bosses.
- SllX 4y agoOkay, let me reframe: there is only one part of the FBI that is involved in policy, and it’s the part that is involved in setting policy for the FBI. That’s management and the chain of command runs up through the POTUS. The actual policy of which laws are written can be lobbied for by the institution, same as anyone else (and people complain about corporate lobbyists all the time so you know there’s competition), but it does not make laws.
- xpe 4y agoYes, we understand. Many of us understood ~6 messages ago. Some of us understood even before that. Anyhow, the horse is very much dead.