For Some Reason, Revelation That FBI's Highest Officers Were Leakers and Liars Is Undermining Their Credibility in Trial Courts

The FBI, like the media, is wondering why the public stopped believing them.

Hint: I think it had to do with all the lies and incompetence. But I can't be sure. You should wiretap me and raid my office to find if I have any other additional information about it.

In the course of two dozen interviews for this story, agents and others expressed concern that the tumult is threatening the cooperation of informants, local and state police officials, and allies overseas. Even those who lived through past crises say the current one is more damaging. "We've seen ups and downs, but I've never seen anything like this," says Robert Anderson, a senior official at the FBI who retired in 2015.

The FBI's crisis of credibility appears to have seeped into the jury room. The number of convictions in FBI-led investigations has declined in each of the last five years, dropping nearly 11% over that period, according to a TIME analysis of data obtained from the Justice Department by researchers at Syracuse University. "We've already seen where the bad guys and witnesses look at those FBI credentials, and it might not carry the same weight anymore," says O’Connor.

Indeed, public support for the FBI has plunged. A PBS NewsHour survey in April showed a 10-point drop–from 71% to 61%--in the prior two months among Americans who thought the FBI was "just trying to do its job" and an 8-point jump--from 23% to 31%--among those who thought it was "biased against the Trump Administration."

posted by Ace of Spades at 06:18 PM

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