Is Vivek Ramaswamy really paying attention, or is he just pounding away at the proverbial hot button? Vivek has been drumming about abolishing, dismantling, and/or defunding the FBI for quite some time. He made it a feature of both presidential debates, haranguing Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) for not being ideologically pure enough to stump for the destruction of the federal agency which leads the crusade against child sexual abuse.
The FBI is nothing if not a public relations nightmare. More than that, it has engaged in blatant acts of partisanship, and is led by a cadre of senior executives who seem bent on making the job of communicating a balanced view of the FBI, its problems, and real solutions as difficult as possible. In addition, FBI Director Wray routinely adds insult to injury by responding opaquely to legitimate congressional inquiry.
But, Vivek hasn’t engaged more than a couple of brain cells on the subject of FBI politicization. I get the feeling he’s just reading the room and emoting belt-fed rhetoric in his sample tested style of machine-gun double speak. He’s like a pull-string doll. Just yank the cord and wait for the tinny, prerecorded dialogue.
Ramaswamy is sputtering in the polls, with just 5% of Republican voters. The guy just doesn’t pass the smell test.
Last Thursday, as Vivek trolled Iowans for political table scraps, he posted on X (formerly Twitter) about an encounter with a “former FBI Agent and his wife.” Vivek went on excitedly, “They agree with me: we need to root out the corruption & shut down the FBI.” I can easily get behind the first half of Vivek’s exuberant, school girl missive —but full stop on the “shut down the FBI” clickbait. But, it gets worse — or better, depending on your sense of humor.
Having martialed his considerable analytical powers, Vivek announced his magnum opus on the FBI weaponization issue. “At the local level, we have police & prosecutors. At the federal level, we have U.S. marshals [sic] & the DOJ.” There are many reasons for why people continue to compare Vivek to Barack Hussein Obama — he has a proclivity to say really stupid things, too. It’s almost as if Vivek reached into his bag of federal bureaucracy and pulled out the first thing his fingers stumbled on.
Though the U.S. Marshals Service is a world class law enforcement organization with a storied history, it’s not designed or equipped to engage with the law enforcement threats routinely handled by the FBI. It has neither the infrastructure or personnel to begin dealing with the broad range of federal statues that fall under the FBI’s jurisdiction. The logistical nightmare of just dumping FBI responsibilities on another federal agency staggers the imagination, not to mention the gaping vulnerabilities such recklessness would create.
No one who talks about abolishing the FBI, especially Vivek, has given any explanation of how transitioning to some other fictionally righteous agency is supposed to happen. Who does the critical work of overseeing such a transition? Where do you draw personnel? Remember, the insidious effects of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) are now endemic in the federal structure — that includes the U.S. Marshals Service.
How are the massive IT infrastructures transferred or assimilated? How is that accomplished in a secure manner? How are active investigations effectively managed and reassigned? To whom are they reassigned, and on what basis? The questions and irresolvable problems extend practically ad infinitum.
Furthermore, the U.S. Marshals Service is a bureau of the Department of Justice (DOJ). So, can you guess who they answer to? You got it, Attorney General Merrick Garland — the same guy who directed the raid on former president Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago. Vivek seems undeterred by this, more likely just completely unconcerned, because it’s all about clicks, donations, rage, and political power.
Many Americans still fail to understand that the DOJ is the head of the federal law enforcement weaponization beast. The FBI is an easy target for the ire of citizens. What they do is sometimes very public, making arrests photographed and videoed by anyone with a cell phone. The blue and yellow emblazoned windbreaker is iconic.
And, feeding the outrage machine is a supremely effective Give-Send-Go crowd funding tool, as some former employees have discovered. It’s pretty good for selling poorly written books too. Just pillory the FBI and donations are sure to swell grubby accounts, and bolster trickling book sales on Amazon. The truly nefarious aspect of this profiteering is, those who engage in it know the truth.
Did you know that without the direct support of the DOJ, not a single J6 defendant would be sitting in jail? DOJ prosecutors secure indictments and obtain convictions, not FBI agents. In fact, without DOJ coordination, the FBI can’t even make an arrest. Yet people like Vivek would have you believe that the sky won’t fall if we just dismantle the FBI, and chuck it all over to the U.S. Marshals Service.
Getting the picture? The nihilistic abolish cult isn’t interested in the hard work required to regain some semblance of a democratic republic. They’re no better than avowed liberals, obsessed with power, fame, and fortune.
Fortunately, there are some who have the credentials and the fortitude to formulate and articulate real solutions to the FBI weaponization problem. The American public must engage with these not-so-sensational solutions. My colleague, retired Supervisory Special Agent James A. Gagliano wrote a piece recently for City Journal entitled, “Fix the FBI.” In it, he recommends the downsizing of FBI HQ staff, eliminating the Executive Assistant Director position (one that is completely superfluous), and returning major investigations to the field office level, among other things. He also recognizes the scourge of DEI, and the existential threat it poses to our national institutions.
Vivek represents every manipulative charlatan occupying the abolish, dismantle, or defund the FBI space. It’s a nasty little place occupied by vying personalities, homunculi desperately hoping for their short time under the klieg lights.