How the Left Corrupted the FBI—and How Kash Patel is Fixing It
Two months in, and President Trump is restoring the FBI to greatness and its original role—catching bad guys, not playing politics for Democrats.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) was once considered the paragon of excellence in impartial, professional, scientific law enforcement. Justice was its lodestar and even the hint of political bias was anathema. But the corrupting influences of the Obama and Biden administrations have led the FBI down a dark road with deep ruts and soft shoulders. The Marxian critical race theories inherent in Obama’s DEI policies eroded the FBI’s cultural commitment to blind justice, replacing it with a cadre of senior executives emboldened to activism by an executive branch committed to radical transformation.
Recent leadership changes, notably the appointments of Kash Patel as FBI Director and Dan Bongino as Deputy Director, have ignited debates about the agency's direction and independence. Do such leadership overhauls genuinely redirect the FBI, or do entrenched institutional dynamics persist regardless of who's at the helm?
Additionally, are FBI agents at all levels to blame for the FBI’s weaponization? Is the solution really as simple as effecting leadership change?
Jocko Willink was a highly accomplished SEAL and is a universally respected voice in all matters relating to leadership dynamics, as well as the operation of effective teams. He’s scaled the lessons learned in special warfare unit environments all the way up to enterprise-wide senior executive action elements. Willink, in his book Extreme Ownership says, “Leadership is the single greatest factor in any team’s performance. Whether a team succeeds or fails is all up to the leader.”
Top-down substantive change has a great deal of historical precedence at the FBI. During the 1920’s, the organization that came to be known as the FBI was originally organized as the Bureau of Investigation. It was a notoriously corrupt organization, having practically no hiring standards. Some agents even had extensive criminal histories.
Then U.S. Attorney General Harlan Stone was tasked by President Calvin Coolidge to reform the renegade federal bureau.
Stone hired J. Edgar Hoover to radically transform the Bureau of Investigation, and Hoover did just that. Hate him or love him (he was a complex and misunderstood character), Hoover was wildly successful in accomplishing this mission. A leader who intuitively understood the principle of “Extreme Ownership.”
J. Edgar Hoover served as the first Director of the FBI from its inception in 1935 until his death in 1972, a tenure spanning nearly four decades. He emphasized professionalism and scientific crime-fighting, transforming the FBI into a modern national organization. Hoover was the architect of the G-man. The impeccable crime fighters who brought gangsters to heel and crushed the Communist Party USA.
Following Hoover, one of the most impactful directors—for good or ill—was Robert Mueller, who assumed the role just one week before the September 11, 2001 attacks. His leadership focused on restructuring the FBI to prioritize counterterrorism and intelligence to prevent future attacks. Mueller's tenure highlights how external events can necessitate a shift in the FBI's focus and operations, demonstrating the director's role in navigating such transitions. In this instance, the change in direction was deleterious, mothballing the investigatory standards inherent in preparing cases to withstand the rigors of judicial oversight within the strictures of criminal procedure.
James B. Comey was sworn in as FBI Director on September 4, 2013. As an Obama appointee, Comey fulfilled the chief executive’s mandate to radically transform American politics and culture. Comey presided over the most radicalized FBI senior executive staff in living memory. His shocking press conference held on July 25, 2016, wherein he exonerated Hillary Clinton of multiple felony acts of mishandling highly classified information, was a watershed moment for the FBI. It paved the way for abuses like the Crossfire Hurricane investigation, by legitimizing and encouraging FBI headquarters run, highly politicized investigations.
Kash Patel's confirmation as FBI Director in February 2025 marked a significant departure from tradition. Patel, a former public defender and Justice Department trial attorney, gained prominence during the Trump administration for challenging the legitimacy of the Crossfire Hurricane investigation. His appointment was narrowly confirmed by the Senate, reflecting deep partisan divisions. For example, Christopher Wray was confirmed 92–5, James Comey 93–1, and Robert Mueller 98–0. Notably, Republican Sens. Susan Collins (ME) and Lisa Murkowski (AK) joined Democrats in opposing his nomination, citing concerns about his perceived partisanship and potential impact on the FBI's neutrality. Certainly, Patel’s past comments about shutting down FBI Headquarters, and “breaking off” the FBI’s counterintelligence operations were controversial.
A recurring narrative suggests the FBI operates as part of a "deep state," resistant to external influence and driven by its own agenda. Such theories are often rooted in partisan rhetoric. What we’ve witnessed under Patel is how quickly the FBI can respond to leadership that empowers agents to be what they became agents to be: G-men and -women who catch criminals, defeat terrorism plots, and thwart agents of foreign powers. In Patel’s words, it’s a policy of letting good cops be good cops.
The FBI’s integral support of ICE operations is a clear example of how leadership can swiftly reorient the workforce. Conversely, it took decades to bend the culture away from the norms instituted by Hoover. His influence created the mystique which the majority of agents still aspire to—the larger-than-life icon Elliot Ness and his peerless Untouchables.
Leadership overhauls that comport with the historical mission of the FBI find quick adoption with little resistance. Patel’s rapid success is evidence of this. The FBI’s core values, though warped by unprincipled leadership, are still what the majority of agents aspire to live up to. The principal axiom: Honoring the civil rights enshrined in the Constitution.
Leadership changes at the FBI undeniably influence its immediate direction and public perception. However, systemic changes take much more time and require much more executive commitment and resources. Patel has already committed to systemic change, and has effected immediate cultural change by mandating transparency, and eliminating politicized senior executives. Leadership will continue to play a critical role in FBI mission focus and public perception.
(READ MORE: "Conservative Influencer" Lindy Li’s Ties to the CCP Go Deeper than We Knew)
