The FBI: Trust, but Verify

No federal agency is beyond public scrutiny. The day we build a wall with no windows around any agency, we give away part of our liberty.

The release of the House memo on the FBI’s investigation of the Trump campaign has provoked a lot of emotions. The Left claims its release is a breach of national security. The Right is mostly saying, “It’s about time!”

Historian Victor Davis Hanson says the memo “makes a series of transparent statements and leaves it up to the criminal-justice system and the public to ascertain subsequent criminal liability.” He also notes, “officials from the FBI supposedly read the memo before its release to ensure that there were not factual errors or misrepresentations.”

Put another way, the memo was vetted for accuracy by the agency it discusses. Seems like pretty fair play, doesn’t it?

I won’t get into the memo’s contents or the wisdom of releasing it. There’s another issue at stake: Whether any government institution is above review by those it is supposed to serve.

The FBI Isn’t Perfect

The FBI has a storied history. But it’s led by fallen sons and daughters of Adam. That means there will be errors of both judgment and ethics. 

The FBI does not exist in isolation from the Executive Branch, of which it is a part. Or Congress, which provides its funding and enacts the laws guiding its conduct.

Put simply, the FBI is not infallible. This past week we learned that more than a year after the FBI was alerted to sexual abuse charges against sports doctor Larry Nassar, “at least 40 girls and women said they were molested.”

Why did the FBI not take action against Nassar for 14 months? While innocence until guilt is proven is essential, so is public safety and simple common sense. If a dozen people tell you a bridge is out, it’s not a good idea to say you can’t be certain and then plunge over a cliff. Surely, some action could have been taken to protect vulnerable women and girls from Nassar’s deviancy.

America should be grateful for the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Without it, serious crime would be far more common. The men and women who put their lives at risk to hunt some of the world’s most dangerous crooks and thugs deserve our ongoing thanks.

But no federal agency is beyond public scrutiny. The day we build a wall with no windows around any agency, we give away part of our liberty. 

Holding Government Accountable

In America, government is accountable. When it’s not, citizens become accountable to the state. That’s not freedom; it’s serfdom.

The U.S. has 16 intelligence services. Each with a distinct mission, all under the purview of the Office of National Intelligence. We’re blessed that the head of ONI — my one-time boss former Senator Dan Coats — is a man of the highest integrity.

And, of course, we have both Defense and Homeland Security departments and their many arms of surveillance and protection.

All but a few who serve in these huge enterprises are patriots who work hard and do great good. But perfection is found only in God, and government is not Him. That’s why the Founders created our system of checks and balances in and between the three branches of the federal government. It’s also why we have so many laws and regulations defining what the intelligence agencies can and cannot do.

This makes things bureaucratic and complex. It creates overlap and inefficiency. Yet without firmly set boundaries, human nature would erode law and ethics and our liberties would begin to crumble.

Trust, But Verify

Contrary to the claims of people like Chuck Schumer and Nancy Pelosi, it does not threaten democracy or undermine confidence in law enforcement to hold organizations like the FBI accountable for what they do.

Should we expose secrets, place agents’ lives in jeopardy, or compromise our ability to gather needed information? Of course not. But accountability, exercised properly, is to representative self-government what air is to the body. 

Confirming our souls in self control and our liberty in law means we have to trust the institutions “We, the People” have created. But no trust, except in our Creator, should be absolute. 

“Trust, but verify,” as Ronald Reagan used to say of the Soviet Union. That’s a good principle not just in foreign policy, but in our own republic, as well.