Here is a wonderfully ironic self-indictment from George Venizelos, assistant director of the FBI:
Public service is not supposed to be a shortcut to self-enrichment. At the very least, public officials should obey the law. As alleged, these defendants did not obey the law; they broke the law and the public trust. There is a price to pay for that kind of betrayal.
This is the same FBI that constantly betrayed the public trust under J. Edgar Hoover. It is the same FBI that was complicit in Jack Kennedy’s assassination, and that committed one of the worst crimes in American history at Waco in 1993. It is the same FBI that consipired with Whitey Bulger here in Boston, conspired with crime bosses across the country for decades, aided and abetted Operation Fast and Furious, and failed to conduct any kind of credible investigation of the 9/11 attacks. It still allows flagrant criminality in the federal government, including payoffs that far exceed anything in New York State. It has a great, self-maintained image, but whenever you find real dirt you want to ask, what’s the FBI up to now? Or you find the FBI totally absent, as it devotes its resources to running down terrorist cells that don’t exist.
Now the FBI’s assistant director issues a smug, self-righteous pronouncement about some minor goings on in New York State as politicians there prepare for New York City’s mayoral race.
At the very least, public officials should obey the law.
Coming from the FBI, that’s brazen. It’s hardly overstating the matter to say that the FBI is the custodian of criminality in our country. Next time the FBI is in your neighborhood, ask them why they’re there. You won’t get a straight answer, I can tell you that.
