The Way Forward for the FBI

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has turned a corner. Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and now Deputy Assistant Director Peter Strzok have been fired. The Justice Department’s inspector general has issued a report, and is at work on another, looking at specific alleged abuses. Attorney General Jeff Sessions has appointed U.S. Attorney John Huber to review the recent failings. Since James Comey’s dismissal, the bureau now has a new director, deputy director and chief of staff.

The way forward now requires a renewal of culture—a turn away from the “intelligence driven” mind-set of the Robert Mueller and Comey years and a return to the old ethos of a fact-finding, swear-to-tell-the-truth law-enforcement agency.

Director Christopher Wray has acknowledged that there were problems. He has stated to numerous audiences that in running the bureau he will put an emphasis on process and the “brand.” Each of the specific problems from the Mueller/Comey years that have identified must be addressed:

• The centralization of case management at FBI headquarters. According to Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, an email from Mr. McCabe said that Hillary Clinton would receive an “HQ special”—lenient treatment in the investigation into her handling of classified materials. Mr. Wray has tasked Associate Deputy Director Paul Abbate to review how the bureau manages sensitive investigations. Part of the answer is for case management to return to the time-tested field-office model with its layers of review.

• Bad relations with Congress. The FBI needs to re-establish a climate of mutual respect with lawmakers. The “Gang of Eight”—congressional leaders and intelligence committee chiefs—is the time-tested vehicle for sharing sensitive information. The bureau should use it. The head of the Office of Congressional Affairs should come from the ranks of agents. During the troublesome Comey years that role was held by a politician. A special agent would have the institutional knowledge to respond to Congress, whose members would afford an agent more credibility.

• A dysfunctional Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act process. House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes has said Congress will look at this after the midterm elections. But the FBI and Justice Department need not wait. They should adopt an internal standard to avoid the use of FISA to target an American citizen before Congress forces more restrictive controls on counterintelligence investigations.

• A lack of emphasis on the Constitution. FBI special agents always have been instructed about the Constitution. But a new category of employee arose after 9/11. Intelligence analysts, who don’t directly interact with citizens in ways that touch on the Constitution’s guarantees, now play a major role in the bureau’s mission. These employees deal in estimates and best guesses. Their actions also ultimately affect people’s liberty. It is imperative that they, too, receive training about the Constitution.

As former FBI Director William Webster repeatedly told us: “We must do the job the American people expect of us, in the way that the Constitution demands of us.” All actions and decisions must once again be viewed though that prism.

When I was in training as a new agent, we were each given a pocket copy of the Constitution by our legal instructor. He told us to keep it in our breast pocket. If we did that, we would think about it when interviewing a suspect or conducting a search. If you keep it “close to your heart, you won’t go wrong,” he said.

That may sound corny, but many of us did hold it close to our hearts. Sadly, I have learned that for years new agents have no longer been given a Constitution. A little thing perhaps—but little things mean a lot.

What is called for now is a renewal of the FBI’s culture. The bureau must turn the page on this intelligence-driven chapter of history. It will be a difficult task, but the hardworking men and women of the FBI deserve it. The American people deserve it too, and the Constitution demands it.

First appeared in the August 28, 2018, print edition of the Wall Street Journal.