Trump's picks for FBI leadership have ‘no idea what they're doing' and are ‘playing dress up,' former staffer says
Michael Feinberg, an assistant special agent in charge at the FBI's field office in Norfolk, Virginia, left the FBI after getting a call from his boss in late May about a friendship with a former agent who criticized the president.
Feinberg, a 15-year veteran of the bureau, chose to depart from the agency rather than be fired. FBI Deputy Director Dan Bongino became aware that Feinberg was friends with former counterintelligence agent Peter Strzok, who has long provoked the president's fury. Strzok was fired during Trump's first term after the Department of Justice released texts in which he spoke negatively about Trump, who attacked him for his work on the probe into Russian election interference in 2016.
The connection to Strzok was sufficient for the bureau to cancel a promotion for Feinberg, he told The Atlantic. His boss indicated that he might be demoted and that he would have to take a polygraph test regarding the friendship. He chose to leave the FBI.
'I love my country and our Constitution with a fervor that mere language will not allow me to articulate, and it pains me that my profession will no longer entail being their servant,' Feinberg wrote in his resignation letter, according to The Atlantic. He has chosen to speak out following his departure as former colleagues at the bureau have asked him to, themselves fearing retribution.
In an essay published by Lawfare early this month, Feinberg argued that the FBI is increasingly concerned with 'ideological purity and the ceaseless politicization of the workforce,' which 'makes us all less safe.'
He joined the FBI in 2009 because he wanted to 'protect both United States interests in the world and the rule of law on the domestic front.'
Feinberg speaks Mandarin and helped lead the bureau's probe into Huawei, the Chinese technology company, which the U.S. alleged was stealing trade secrets from U.S. firms. Following his departure, Feinberg is unsure if any senior counterintelligence officials speak Chinese at the bureau.
'It's particularly concerning to me, as someone who dedicated his professional career to combating the Chinese Communist Party and all of its tentacles, to see resources and efforts diverted away from hostile foreign intelligence services and other serious threats to the homeland to focus on minor immigration status offenses,' he wrote in his essay.
Bongino and FBI Director Kash Patel became embroiled in the ongoing scandal about the late financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein earlier this month. They initially claimed that stark revelations would be made about Epstein and his connections to the wealthy and powerful. However, the Trump administration released a memo quashing the notion that Epstein had a client list and rejected any conspiracy theories surrounding his death by suicide in a Manhattan jail cell on August 10, 2019.
Asked about the Epstein scandal, Feinberg told The Atlantic: 'They get a kick out of playing dress-up and acting tough. But they actually have no idea what they're doing.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The National
40 minutes ago
- The National
Force the 1% to cough up for their climate damage
Land ownership in Scotland is incredibly concentrated in a small number of hands. Fewer than 500 people own more than half of our private land. This motley group includes our own aristocrats, whose families have owned huge estates for centuries and whose wealth is often a result of their forebears' brutal actions during the Highland Clearances. But in recent decades they've been joined by a new group, the elite of global capitalism. The biggest landowner in Scotland used to be the Duke of Buccleuch, but now it's Danish billionaire Anders Povlsen. And the ruler of Dubai, Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum isn't far behind. READ MORE: More Scots need to benefit from Scotland's screen industry, John Swinney says And he might not be in the same league as Povlsen or the Sheikh in terms of hectares, but Scotland's most infamous landowner is undoubtedly Donald Trump. Thankfully, the US president has now returned home after a brief stint of shaking hands, being drowned out by bagpipes and teeing off at his Scottish golf courses. Last year, I proposed a private jet tax which would see Trump and his cronies charged a 'super rate' of up to £250,000 every time they fly here for non-government business. This is something which should be within the powers of the Scottish Government, but is now a decade overdue. In the aftermath of the independence referendum, all parties agreed to devolve air passenger duty to the Scottish Parliament. An Act was passed by MSPs to replace it with a new Scottish air departure tax. But it can't start until the UK Government resolves an issue with the exemption for lifeline island flights – and neither they nor the [[Scottish Government]] seem to be in any rush to do that. If this was resolved, the Scottish Government could immediately bring in a super-tax on private jets, reflecting the fact that they are about twenty times more polluting than regular flights. Personally, I'd rather ban most private air travel. It is the perfect example of how the world's richest 1% are disproportionately responsible for the climate crisis. Unfortunately, full powers over air travel are still reserved to Westminster for now. Trump doesn't care about the climate, but he would care about the £250,000 tax bill every time his huge private plane arrives here. Some super-rich elites would undoubtedly take the financial hit and still fly here anyway, but the money raised could at least then be used to fund climate-friendly policies like cheaper buses and trains. And private air travel is just one example of how the super-rich play by different rules to the rest of us, all whilst avoiding paying their fair share. For too long, they have been allowed to avoid not just paying their fair share in tax, but also having their often deeply damaging activities scrutinised. All while ordinary people suffer the consequences of budgets for schools, hospitals and social care being squeezed. Tax is the price we pay for living in a civilised society, one with public services capable of meeting all of our needs throughout our lives. But the richest among us do not pay nearly enough towards maintaining the services needed for that kind of society. The Scottish Greens have long called for a wealth tax, one which would see the richest 10% of people who hold almost half the total wealth of the country taxed fairly. Introducing just a 1% annual tax on all wealth and assets above £1 million would massively boost the efforts to create a fairer, better Scotland for everyone. For context, the other 90% of Scots households hold nowhere near enough wealth to be considered for such a tax, with the average having about £214,000 in assets. This would be an extremely well-targeted tax, raising billions from those who can more than afford to pay. We are not the only people calling for a wealth tax. Just this week, leading economists from across the world have called on Labour to introduce a UK-wide wealth tax to tackle extreme levels of inequality and poverty. They have warned the Government what the Greens have argued for years: that far too much wealth is concentrated in the hands of far too few people in the UK, and it is damaging society at large. Sadly, Labour seem determined to rule this out. It is time for Keir Starmer to seriously rethink his approach and what he wants his legacy to be: a society where everyone has what they need to get by, or one where far too many children are left in desperate poverty whilst a tiny number of people hoard more wealth than they could spend in a thousand lifetimes. The Scottish Greens are clear on what we need to do: tax the super-rich now, for the good of people and planet.
The Independent
an hour ago
- The Independent
Biden laments over Trump's handling of the presidency in speech: ‘These are dark days'
Former President Joe Biden blasted his predecessor and successor in the Oval Office, President Donald Trump, in a speech at the National Bar Association's Centennial Convention in Chicago on Thursday night. Biden said he was 'proud I've appointed judges doing their best to be independent, fair, and impartial, respecting the rule of law, upholding the Constitution. I wish I could say the same for the executive branch.' The 82-year-old said Trump was 'doing his best to dismantle the Constitution.' Saying that he was 'deadly earnest,' Biden lamented that Congress was 'just sitting on the sidelines' and that the Supreme Court was enabling the president's worst impulses. 'The rulings they made, my God,' said Biden. The former president said, 'There are moments …that forced us to confront hard truths about ourselves, our institutions, and democracy itself. We are, in my view, at such a moment in American history, reflected in every cruel executive outreach, every rollback of basic freedoms, every erosion of long-standing established precedent.' 'Watching immigrants who are in this country legally, torn from the arms of their family, dragged away in handcuffs, the only home they've ever known,' said Biden. 'My friends, we need to face the hard truths of this administration.' He argued the Trump administration's goals have been to 'erase all the gains' from his own time in the White House, and 'to erase history rather than make it, to erase fairness, equality, to erase justice itself. And that's not hyperbole, that's a fact.' 'Look, folks, you can't sugarcoat this. These are dark days, but you're all here for the same reason. I left that prestigious law firm … to go to the defender's office years ago, it's because our future is literally on the line,' he added. Biden accepted an award from the association following his 22-minute speech, in which he criticized the president without mentioning him by name. The former president was awarded the association's highest honor, named after its founder, C. Frances Stratford. The National Bar Association is the country's oldest and largest national association of mostly African American attorneys, judges, law professors, and students. Biden's speech targeting the president came as a group of federal judges has asked U.S. political leaders to tone down their rhetoric and ease their attacks on members of the judicial system after a spike in intimidation and death threats. The group Speak Up for Justice hosted a forum on Thursday where a number of judges spoke of their experiences of receiving hatred and harassment. While Trump was not named, Esther Salas, a District Court judge in New Jersey, said attacks came from the 'top down.' 'The fix check is so easy in some ways, right, because what we need is our political leaders from the top down to stop fanning these flames, to stop using irresponsible rhetoric, to stop referring to judges as corrupt and biased and monsters that hate America. We need our leaders to lead responsibly,' said Salas Thursday. 'Stop demonizing us, stop villainizing us, because what they're doing when they do that irresponsible rhetoric is they are inviting people to do us harm… because our leaders are calling us idiots and deranged, and monsters,' she added.
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
Hugely popular EV with 500-mile range could be banned from £3,750 grant
The policy aims to support the switchover to electric and help the UK reach climate goals, but could limit Brit consumers' access to some of the most advanced and affordable EVs on the market A hugely popular EV with 500-mile range is at risk of being banned from the UK's new £3,750 electric car grant due to new government restrictions. The UK government's £650m Electric Car Grant (ECG) subsidises up to £3,750 off the purchase price of new EVs costing under £37,000, in the hopes of accelerating the country's transition away from petrol and diesel vehicles ahead of the 2030 ban on new internal combustion engine (ICE) car sales. However, the scheme contains strict criteria — only manufacturers who meet "minimum environmental standards" qualify. Notably, vehicles manufactured in countries with "poor sustainability records or high carbon emissions" are ineligible for the scheme. It comes after UK drivers were warned over 'avoiding' road instead of having to follow new rule. China, which dominates global EV and battery manufacturing, relies heavily on coal-powered electricity for its factories. According to Transport Minister Lilian Greenwood, in an effort to ensure that the EV shift not only reduces emissions on the road, but also in the manufacturing and supply chain, any manufacturer whose production is powered significantly by coal will be excluded from grant eligibility. As a result, Chinese EVs, including those from BYD and MG, will not qualify. This also includes Chinese smartphone giant Xiaomi 's game-changing entry into the EV market, the new new YU7 electric SUV, which received over 200,000 pre-orders within just three minutes of its launch. The impressive model has an incredible 518-mile range, gets from naught to 60 mph in just 3.23 seconds and boasts a top speed of 157 mph. China's government has strongly protested the measure, arguing the UK is violating World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules by giving "favourable treatment" to certain countries over others. WTO rules prohibit discrimination in international trade. An embassy spokesperson said: "China has abolished all market access restrictions on foreign investment in manufacturing and remains open to international carmakers, including those from the UK, who can fully share in the dividends of China's big market. "We hope the UK's industry policy will observe WTO rules, respect market economy laws and provide an open, fair, just and non-discriminatory environment for the investment and operation of businesses from all countries, including China. The Chinese side is closely following the situation and will resolutely safeguard the legitimate rights and interests of Chinese companies." The UK's move comes amid similar tensions in Europe, where EU authorities are investigating Chinese EV imports that threaten the dominance of local auto manufacturers. On July 16, Ms Greenwood told the BBC 's Today programme: "We don't expect any cars that are assembled in China to be eligible for this scheme. The grant is restricted to those manufacturers that reach minimum environmental standards. And, frankly, if you generate a lot of the electricity that powers your factory through coal power stations, then you are not going to be able to access this grant." A Department for Transport (DfT) spokesperson said: "Our electric car grant will give drivers across the UK access to discounts on dozens of new electric car models, helping them save up to £3,750 per car and putting money back into the pockets of working people." So while the policy aims to support to switchover to EVs and help the UK reach its climate goals, it could also limit Brit consumers' access to some of the most advanced and affordable EVs on the market.
