Deep antipathy to Hillary Clinton exists within the FBI, multiple bureau sources have told the Guardian, spurring a rapid series of leaks damaging to her campaign just days before the election.Current and former FBI officials, none of whom were willing or cleared to speak on the record, have described a chaotic internal climate that resulted from outrage over director James Comey’s July decision not to recommend an indictment over Clinton’s maintenance of a private email server on which classified information transited.”The FBI is Trumpland,” said one current agent.
The scope of these concerns helps to reinforce impressions that the FBI has its thumb on the scale when it comes to this year’s presidential election. Comey’s letter to Congress is a problem. Anti-Clinton officials at the bureau taking “Clinton Cash” seriously is a problem. The FBI’s Twitter feed is a problem. Allegations that pro-Trump officials at the FBI are leaking to Rudy Giuliani are a problem.The Atlantic‘s Adam Serwer had a very compelling piece this week, arguing that the presidential race should be guided “by voters, not federal agents.” It’s hard not to get the impression that some in the FBI have a very different opinion.And what about the Fox News report this week, which generated all kinds of excitement from Republicans and Donald Trump’s campaign, that the FBI is moving towards a “likely” indictment as part of an investigation into the Clinton Foundation? That report has been discredited — by NBC News and ABC News — and even Fox itself has walked back its original claims.
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Steve Benen is a producer for "The Rachel Maddow Show," the editor of MaddowBlog and an MS NOW political contributor. He's also the bestselling author of "Ministry of Truth: Democracy, Reality, and the Republicans' War on the Recent Past."