MacIntyre: The Durham report and our carousel of corruption

The report from special counsel John Durham has been released, confirming what anyone with eyes to see already knew: The justice system in the United States is rotten to its core. The report documents the corruption that rests deep at the heart of critical federal agencies like the FBI and their willingness to interfere with elections by attacking political enemies.

According to the report, the FBI was fully aware that the “Russia collusion” narrative was manufactured and advanced by the Hilary Clinton campaign in an attempt to smear the opposing presidential candidate, Donald Trump. Under the leadership of Barrack Obama and then Vice President Joe Biden, the FBI and DOJ actively participated in a conspiracy to surveil a rival political candidate and conduct an investigation that would impact the election.

The origin of the Russia collusion narrative was known, the motivation of the parties involved was known, but the FBI pushed on anyway for one very obvious reason: to hurt Donald Trump. The most shocking part of the report should be its conclusion that no major charges are warranted against those who knowingly participated in this wildly corrupt endeavor, but sadly this is not shocking at all. Federal law enforcement and the wider American security state have been completely politicized. These agencies are de facto arms of the Democratic Party, and no one expects to be held accountable.

Durham’s 305-page report shows that the FBI was well aware of the inadequate nature of the information it was using to justify its investigation and of the fact that the investigation worked to further the Clinton campaign’s goal of using the Russian collusion narrative to distract and mislead the public. CIA Director John Brennan briefed Obama, Biden, and several top administration officials including the attorney general and the FBI director as to the origin of the Russian collusion narrative. Despite knowing that this narrative was concocted by the Clinton campaign for the candidate's political benefit, or more likely because of that fact, all parties involved chose to move forward without hesitation.

Usually, a law enforcement agency seeking to maintain its reputation as a neutral entity would tread rather lightly when considering an investigation that could directly impact the outcome of an election, but in this case the lack of substantial evidence and the political nature of the narrative’s origin did not seem to warrant even a light tapping of the brakes. Apparently, the FBI only decided to end the investigation because one of its longtime confidential informants made a possibly illegal financial contribution to the Clinton campaign on behalf of a foreign entity.

Far from holding the Obama White House, DOJ, FBI, or CIA accountable for their naked partisanship and intentional election interference, the media dutifully aided in the effort as if they had been paid handsomely by the Clinton campaign itself. I am not, of course, suggesting that Hillary Clinton compensated the media for their role, because the media are more than happy to do it for free. Outlets like CNN and MSNBC hate America, see conservatives as a roadblock to a glorious social revolution, and despise Trump on a level that can scarcely be put into words. Anchors and pundits leaped into the fray with reckless abandon, consuming and creating increasingly absurd fictions about Trump’s scandalous relationship with the Russian government at every opportunity. The idea that the fourth estate would hold the formal government accountable really does seem quaint in retrospect.

The Russian collusion narrative would continue to haunt Trump throughout his presidency, derailing the administration and making it difficult to advance significant parts of his agenda. Democrat politicians and the media were able hijack the term of a duly elected president because the FBI lent credibility to a narrative generated by the Clinton campaign for its own political benefit. Trump advisers like Carter Page and George Papadopoulos had their reputations destroyed while they were portrayed as traitors and forced to spend an egregious amount of time and money on a politically motivated witch hunt. Trump supporters felt like they were robbed of a presidency, and they were right. Donald Trump was undermined by the deep state at every step of his presidency, in many cases by people who knew they were peddling a political narrative with no substantial evidence.

While all of this is deeply disturbing, the most concerning aspect of these revelations is how little is expected to come from them. New bombshells seem to drop about the corruption surrounding Hunter Biden, the DOJ, the FBI, the IRS, and the Clinton industrial complex, yet nothing ever comes of them. Despite open evidence of wrongdoing, deeply disturbing instances of political bias, and brazen violations of law, no consequences seem to follow for those who operate the progressive administrative state.

Many are now asserting that the Durham report is damning and will deeply damage the reputation of the FBI. Jake Tapper of CNN was forced to admit that the report looked very bad for the agency while mostly exonerating Trump. While the FBI might feign contrition for a moment, it seems very unlikely that any lesson of significance will have been learned. Despite repeated damage to its reputation due to naked political action, the agency has not hesitated to arrest pro-life protesters, target traditional Catholic masses for surveillance, and threaten parents who protested the indoctrination of their children at school board meetings.

The FBI also enthusiastically raided the home of Donald Trump, the primary political opponent of the bureau's current boss, right before a midterm election. It did so while alleging that Trump possessed dangerous classified documents, possibly pertaining to nuclear secrets. Amazingly, nothing was ever heard about these documents again after the election. Apparently, the real purpose of the raid had already been achieved.

The FBI is a dangerously compromised organization that now exists to punish the enemies of the progressive movement. At some level leftists understand that they have expended the credibility of America’s institutions and shattered the illusion of neutrality. That is why progressives have focused a lot of energy on purging the military and consolidating their hold on agencies like the FBI, CIA, and IRS. The ability of the left to use soft power and propaganda to reliably engineer the desired electoral outcome is waning, and the shock that someone like Donald Trump was able to make it through the mechanisms of control jolted the deep state into action.

Some conservatives have started to notice these very disturbing development and are calling for a complete dismantling of the FBI. Establishment Republicans will say this is hyperbolic, but it is important to understand what is at stake. The U.S. security apparatus now regularly interferes with elections and does so without shame or hesitation. If the next Republican president does not clear out the deep state root and branch, he is likely to be the last Republican to even have the option.