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For decades, the FBI was socially and politically conservative. Agents – virtually all men, wearing dark suits, white shirts, and ties – chased communists and spied on civil rights leaders. Directors were mostly Republicans or on good terms with the GOP.
Today, the FBI’s world has been flipped upside down. Many GOP lawmakers are attacking the bureau as, in their view, a tool of Democrats. They criticize its investigation into former President Donald Trump and Russia, its efforts to rein in right-wing extremist groups, and its electronic surveillance mistakes, among other things.
Why We Wrote This
Trust in the FBI has been plummeting among Republicans during the Trump era, as voters increasingly see institutions – including law enforcement – as being weaponized for political purposes.
Over the past few years, the FBI’s reputation has cratered among Republicans. According to Pew Research Center data, 53% of GOP voters now view the bureau unfavorably.
The FBI has already instituted some reforms in response to the criticism it has received. But some say more needs to be done to rebuild public trust.
“It’s just very dangerous for a government or country to have people believe that law enforcement is fundamentally political, and that one party is going to be advantaged and [the] other disadvantaged,” says Stewart Baker, former general counsel of the National Security Agency. “It’s something to be avoided at all costs.”
For decades under J. Edgar Hoover, the FBI was socially and politically conservative. Agents – virtually all men, many of them Southerners from Mr. Hoover’s alma mater, George Washington University – wore dark suits, white shirts, and ties. At work, coats were not to be removed.
The bureau loosened up over the years. But it retained its buttoned-down aura. Agents chased communists and spied on civil rights leaders. Directors were not all Republicans, but they mostly remained on good terms with the GOP.
Today, the FBI’s world has been flipped upside down. Seven years into the Republican Party’s era of Donald Trump, many GOP lawmakers are attacking the bureau as, in their view, a tool of Democrats. Where once conservatives defended the FBI as the embodiment of American law and order, they now criticize its investigation into Mr. Trump and Russia, its efforts to rein in right-wing extremist groups, and its electronic surveillance mistakes, among other things.
Why We Wrote This
Trust in the FBI has been plummeting among Republicans during the Trump era, as voters increasingly see institutions – including law enforcement – as being weaponized for political purposes.
Some House Republicans have gone so far as to call for the FBI’s defunding. At a contentious House hearing last week, multiple GOP lawmakers peppered FBI Director Christopher Wray with questions about whether bureau agents or sources were present at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6, apparently reflecting a theory, for which there is little hard evidence, that the FBI helped stir up the insurrection.
“I’m sure a lot of Democrats will say, ‘That’s just a conspiracy theory, and it’s wrong, so we can dismiss it,’” says Stewart Baker, the former general counsel of the National Security Agency. “But you can’t dismiss a large portion of the body politic that believes those things about your law enforcement and national security agencies.”
Drop in trust among Republicans
For much of its history, the FBI has been one of the nation’s most popular government agencies. Self-promotion has bolstered this: Ghost-written books published under Mr. Hoover’s name were big bestsellers in the 1950s. An authorized TV series based on bureau case files and s
