The Daily Beast reports President Trump's continued attacks on the Department of Justice and FBI in what appears to be an effort to discredit the Russia investigation are taking a toll on career officials.
“It’s a deliberate campaign to delegitimize institutions where the people who are inside those institutions are professionals and giving up lots of money for the jobs that they’re doing and it’s extremely demoralizing,” said one current federal prosecutor.
“As my father used to say, history goes forward and backward. And things go backward when the trust in bedrock institutions—which are trustworthy, by the way—is diminished for the benefit of a few. It accelerates, and you wake up one day and we’re in Venezuela.”
Trump has been pushing a conspiracy theory that the FBI sicced a spy on his campaign during the election season. In reality, a longtime FBI informant––per numerous reports––spoke with several Trump campaign officials, including Carter Page and George Papadopoulos, and shared the information with FBI investigators ...
Using informants is typical for federal law enforcement, including in large and complex cases like the one involving Team Trump. But the president took to Twitter to assert that something more nefarious may have happened.
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The attacks have left many in the DOJ feeling beleaguered and demoralized.
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“You can’t overstate how critical it is for us––and in particular for the FBI––that people who have information to share will trust us to protect them,” the prosecutor continued. “My personal view is that Trump and [House Intel Chair Devin] Nunes must know that their actions will give pause to anyone considering cooperation with the Special Counsel, and that’s part of their plan—the consequences for law enforcement writ large be damned.”
Another DOJ official told The Daily Beast that morale at the FBI has hit rock bottom. That official said he hears a constant refrain, over and over, among his colleagues: “This is such a dark time for the FBI.”
‘We’re in Venezuela’—Trump’s Latest FBI Attack Stuns, Saddens Justice Officials (The Daily Beast)