Raise Your Hand If You Still Trust the FBI
Grabien News has been keeping a running tally of FBI malfeasance throughout the decades. They are at 151 and counting...
In February, the FBI’s X (formerly Twitter) account laughably tweeted out the following:
The photo of two white females being the representative example of the perpetrators of organized retail theft, oftentimes committed by flash mobs, is so inane that the tweet was ratioed—badly. (“Ratioed” on X means that you have far more comments than “likes” on a single post—an indication you have missed the mark entirely.) Users were quick to point out the absurdity of the post.
While we can chuckle at the disingenuousness of the FBI’s post, we must continue to be sober-minded as they attempt to gaslight us—as if people hadn’t noticed their shenanigans, malfeasance, and downright diabolical vileness over the years. One particularly egregious example, which I only discovered in recent years, was J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI wiretapping Martin Luther King Jr. and then enticing him to commit suicide with a “suicide letter” based on the incriminating recordings.
https://www.npr.org/2021/01/18/956741992/documentary-exposes-how-the-fbi-tried-to-destroy-mlk-with-wiretaps-blackmail
Below is the unredacted letter purportedly written in 1964 by the FBI, though they took great pains to make it appear that one of King’s associates wrote it. Though it does not explicitly state for him to “kill yourself” or “commit suicide”; you can, however, elicit from their words in the last paragraph that that is what they were encouraging him to do.
Back in the 1970’s, I enjoyed watching “The FBI” (1965-74) starring Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. The Bureau was presented in such a positive light and they always got the bad guys—not by nefarious, underhanded means, but by honorable ones.
I wish my childlike belief in the FBI was still preserved; but alas, too much has transpired that has opened my eyes, particularly in recent years, about how they operate and their unfair and unequal treatment of some American citizens. They no longer have the significant amount of respect and gravitas they once held when their favorability rating was at 84% in 1965.1 As recently as 2021, Gallup showed a precipitous drop in Americans’ view of the FBI’s job performance in 2019 (57%) vs. 2021 (44%).
https://news.gallup.com/poll/355130/job-ratings-key-federal-agencies-decline.aspx
If I were to conjecture, the drop in 2021 may be ascribed to questionable actions being leaked out about the FBI’s scurrilous participation in Russiagate, where we found out that they were part of the mechanisms that spied on Trump’s campaign, starting in 2015, trying to plant the seed that he was colluding with Putin to win the election. That was truly a turning point for me—and unfortunately they presently show no signs of trying to repair their reputation with the American public (though I will concede that Republicans distrust them in much higher numbers than Democrats).
***NOW, WHAT YOU’VE ALL BEEN WAITING FOR***
Grabien’s list includes well-known and not-so-well known instances of the FBI’s failings and corruption. It should be noted that the majority of the entries start around 2013-present. Below, is a truncated screenshot of the actual, chronological list on their website; the full list can be accessed via the link below the screenshot. (Please note: Anyone can create an account and submit an item to this list, BUT the editors still research and fact-check the veracity of each submission. I submitted one myself (part of the bulleted list below), and it took over a month for them to vet it.
CLICK ON LINK FOR THE FULL LIST OF THE 151 EXAMPLES: https://lists.grabien.com/list-fbi-scandals-controversies-embarrassments
BELOW IS A SCREEN RECORDING OF THE FBI LIST FROM THE WEBSITE:
Some examples of their “scandals, controversies, & acts of corruption”:
FBI falsely accused Richard Jewell of terrorism after Atlanta Olympics bombing, U.S. Congress finds 07/30/1997. US House
The FBI framed four men for murder; two died in prison, two spent 62 years behind bars, 07/26/2007. The New York Times
Under Comey, the FBI authorized informants to BREAK THE LAW (my capitals) 22,800 times in just four years, 08/23/2016. The Daily Dot
On the FBI's Hillary probe, Comey claimed there was no coordination between the DoJ and FBI, but texts and emails later showed that to be untrue, 04/19/2018. The Washington Examiner
FBI Agents Disregarded Gymnasts’ [sexual abuse] Complaints About [Larry] Nassar, Then Made False Statements to Cover Mistakes, Report Says, 07/14/2021. The Wall Street Journal
Men accused in plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Whitmer say FBI set them up, 07/21/2021. NY Post
FBI agents stole valuables from hundreds of safety deposit boxes in California, 09/20/2021. Los Angeles Times
The FBI Seized Almost $1 Million From This Family—and Never Charged Them With a Crime, 02/18/2022. Reason
Igor Danchenko, a primary contributor to the Steele dossier, was hired by the FBI as a confidential informant [even] after the FBI learned he was lying, 09/14/2022. National Review
FBI Concocted Plans Known As "Crossfire Hurricane" to Frame Trump As A Russian Agent, 04/14/2023. The Federalist
AND THE ONE I SUBMITTED: “The FBI, as part of its COINTELPRO program and using a paid informant, was involved in the 1969 raid that killed young, Black Panther leader Fred Hampton, 12/04/1969. History
Also, though armed with information, there were countless missed opportunities to intervene before a terrorist or mass shooter struck: 9/11 terrorists, Fort Hood shooter, Boston Marathon bombers, ISIS-inspired killer; Garland, TX terrorists, Pulse Nightclub terrorist, Parkland mass killer, Waffle House mass killer, Nashville bomber, Boulder shooter et al, ad nauseam.
There are SO MANY examples I can provide of present-day partiality, particularly towards anti-narrative/anti-establishment types, but those examples will have to exist in a later Substack.
Lastly, one important modus operandi that the FBI utilizes (and in some cases has caused violence and death to participants) is infiltrating protests. (I am including this salient article because it is not part of Grabien’s list—though I intend to submit some of the items.)
https://theintercept.com/2020/06/02/history-united-states-government-infiltration-protests/
The Intercept, a non-profit, online magazine known for its stellar investigative reporting on powerful individuals and institutions, provides examples in a June 2020 article of how law enforcement, including the FBI, can escalate a situation, commit heinous crimes, and/or entrap unwitting protestors. Below, a couple of passages from the article:
“In one notorious example in May 1970, an informant working for both the Tuscaloosa police and the FBI burned down a building at the University of Alabama during protests over the recent Kent State University shootings. The police then declared that demonstrators were engaging in an unlawful assembly and arrested 150 of them.”
“…An FBI informant, who said he was also a member of the John Birch Society, helped assemble time bombs and placed them on an Army truck. (The John Birch Society now says it has no record of his membership.) An FBI informant in the radical political organization Weather Underground took part in the bombing of a Cincinnati public school. A prominent member of Vietnam Veterans Against the War — and FBI informant — pushed for “shooting and bombing,” and his advocacy apparently did indeed lead to a bombing and a bomb threat. An FBI informant in Seattle drove a young black man named Larry Ward to a real estate office that engaged in housing discrimination and encouraged him to place a bomb there; the police were waiting and killed Ward. Thirteen Black Panthers were accused of a plot to blow up the Statue of Liberty after receiving 60 sticks of dynamite from an FBI informant. After 28 people broke into a federal building to destroy draft files in 1971, an FBI informant bragged, “I taught them everything they knew.” All 28 were acquitted when his role was revealed.”
I cannot fathom that though one can operate under the imprimatur of the FBI one can still cause death and destruction with immunity.
However, as an eternal optimist, I pray that the FBI will one day remember its 1908 founding where it was created specifically to help the resource-deficient Department of Justice investigate violations of the law across our vast, and quickly growing nation—and not continue to focus on going detrimentally rogue against fellow Americans.
FoxyHeterodoxy (Debra C) is a former high school teacher and counselor presently taking time to explore next steps until an epiphany occurs. With this Substack, she is committed to righting the misinformation pablum spouted by corporate media on topics such as COVID, the border crisis, "safe & secure" elections, vaccines, transgenderism, climate "crisis", Trump, homelessness, government caring about us, et al, ad nauseam, ad infinitum. She is a wife, mother of three grown children, and dog mom to Cocoa, almost 14. You can find her on X, Rumble, Instagram and Gettr—though she needs to post more on the latter two. (Thanks to for giving her the idea to add a biographical epilogue.)
https://news.gallup.com/poll/4696/americans-still-moderately-favorable-opinion-fbi.aspx
You are not wrong.