Agencies of Fear

http://www.counterpunch.org/2016/11/07/agencies-of-fear/
Date Written:  2016-11-07
Publisher:  CounterPunch
Year Published:  2016
Resource Type:  Article
Cx Number:  CX20094

The article details an example of how little control the US administration can have over one of its agencies and the dangers and consequences of the situation.

Abstract: 
Excerpt:

The intrusion of the FBI into the 2016 presidential election may have come as a shock to most people, but it should not have surprised anyone who has spent time in the Oval Office. Stretching back to the days of J. Edgar Hoover, presidents have learned, sooner or later, that while they may revel in the title of "Chief Executive," their command of coercive bureaucracies, such as the FBI and the intelligence agencies, along with the military services, and others, is limited at best.

At worst, presidents may find these powerful institutions actively colluding with their political enemies. Currently, we have credible reports of agents in the New York FBI Field Office defying their nominal superiors in the justice department to dig with zeal into the Clinton Foundation on the basis of nebulous leads from a partisan and largely discredited screed by a former Bush speechwriter.