A new national report details how some members of local law enforcement have lost trust in the FBI and in some cases are no longer sharing information with the agency.
The report was created by an alliance of retired and active-duty FBI agents and analysts in coordination with local law enforcement partners. It was submitted to the House Judiciary Committee, the Select Subcommittee on the Weaponization of the Federal Government and the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
The New York Post uploaded the report.
FBI Director Chris Wray testified before the House Judiciary on Wednesday and said the agency has dealt with an escalation of threats against the country from criminal organizations trafficking fentanyl to public corruption and corporate fraud.
“To meet these threats, we have built, and are continuously enhancing, a workforce that possesses the skills and knowledge to deal with the complex threats and challenges we face today — and will face tomorrow,” said Wray.
Findings of the report
The report found that some local law enforcement partners perceive the FBI as having a partisan bias and believe the agency operates under a political agenda. These law enforcement agencies are reportedly not just reluctant to share information, but some have decided not to share “actionable, substantive information on criminal and other intelligence-related activity with the FBI.”
Law enforcement personnel quoted in the report, identified by pseudonyms, said the way the FBI handled the Jan. 6 riot and its search of former President Donald Trump’s home in Mar-a-Lago versus the way the agency has approached Antifa, riots during 2020 and pro-Palestinian rioters.
One law enforcement officer with more than 25 years of experience and is currently the officer in charge of a multi-law enforcement agency task force said some newer FBI agents are critical of conservative or Christian values.
A graduate of the FBI National Academy and retired law enforcement veteran with more than 35 years in service said during formal classes, a FBI National Academy instructor “regularly denigrated then-U.S. Presidential Candidate Donald J. Trump and all Republicans.”
Without local law enforcement partnerships, the report said the FBI’s abilities to fight crime and gather intelligence “are dramatically weakened” and could have implications for national security.
Local law enforcement partners also said in the report the FBI has become consistently unresponsive to attempts contact them to develop working relationships between the agencies.
“While the relationship between local law enforcement officers and the FBI has historically been complicated by inherent challenges, local law enforcement officers say they generally feel so disrespected by today’s FBI Special Agents and supervisory personnel that any positive opinions of individual FBI personnel — characterized as rare exceptions by local law enforcement officers — are overshadowed by a predominantly persistent and negative opinion of the FBI as an organization,” said the report.
Saying the FBI Academy for New Agent Training promotes “a cult of narcissism,” the report was critical of the user of taxpayer funds to build a wellness center rather than using those dollars for creating a curriculum to teach new agents the value of partnerships with local law enforcement.
One law enforcement officer said the FBI has produced quality investigative work and provided needed technical support, but he or she and other peers think the FBI is politically motivated and has damaged credibility.
A former FBI special agent identified as BRAVO 98 said when they joined 25 years old, agents were taught to be nonpartisan and apolitical in their approach.
“Today, according to BRAVO 98, America is witnessing the results of the ‘cabal’ of senior FBI leaders who were so blatantly partisan in how they directed FBI investigations into allegations of Russian collusion, allegations that classified information was mishandled, and Hunter Biden’s laptop, said the report.
Local law enforcement officers said since they see the FBI as biased in handling investigations, they do not want to collaborate with them on cases. Some officers said the criticism was not necessarily about the agents, but the leaders of the FBI-led Task Force and FBI management.
Some of these local law enforcement officers also said they felt disrespected by the agency. One said he or she interacted with a friendly FBI special agent, but when that same agent was around other FBI personnel, they were cold and distant.
“Based on these repeated observations, BRAVO 74 was left with the impression that FBI personnel looked down on other agencies, often including other law enforcement agencies of the federal government,” said the report.
Wray’s testimony
Wray said the agency has seen an increase in reported threats against Jewish and Muslim people, including against their houses of worship, and the agency is working on mitigating those threats.
While Wray said they do not have information to suggest Hamas will conduct operations inside the U.S., the agency is concerned Hamas supporters may engage in violence on their behalf. The agency is also concerned about threats from ISIS and al-Qaida.
Wray pointed toward other threats the U.S. faces: national security threats from China, Russia and Iran, financial and health crime fraud, crimes against children, transnational organized criminal enterprises as well as violent crime and gang activity.
“The strength of any organization is its people. The threats we face as a nation have never been greater or more diverse and the expectations placed on the FBI have never been higher,” said Wray. “Our fellow citizens look to the FBI to protect the United States from all of those threats, and the men and women of the FBI continue to meet and exceed those expectations, every day.”
After delivering his opening testimony, the bulk of Wray’s questioning from officials was about the assassination attempt targeting Trump.