Sensenbrenner Joins GOP's War on the FBI

I have seldom agreed with Jim Sensenbrenner on issues. However, I never questioned his devotion to America or his patriotism. Until now.

Sensenbrenner is right in the middle of the Nunes memo scandal. The memo, written by the staff of Congressman Devin Nunes, unveils classified information for a blatantly political purpose. It is a clumsy ruse to cast doubt on the motivations of law enforcement agents at the FBI. It is a ploy to end an investigation of the meddling in our elections by a hostile foreign power.

The memo seeks to bully the FBI into submission. It tries to convince us that the FBI has no right to investigate collusion of the Trump campaign with agents of Russia. In a tweet this morning, Trump chimed-in, "The top Leadership and Investigators of the FBI and the Justice Department have politicized the sacred investigative process in favor of Democrats and against Republicans ... "

Our own Congressman is not innocent in this attempt to subvert American sovereignty and rule-of-law. Like many others in the GOP, Jim Sensenbrenner has piled-on to harm the reputation of the FBI. On January 19th, he signed a letter to Nunes to release the memo. A copy of Sensenbrenner's appeal to release classified information can be found here.

Sensenbrenner's letter, cosigned by sixty-three other House Republicans (but not a single Democrat) stated "This important memo will be of interest to anyone who cares about America and our democratic system of government. We are writing to request the immediate release of this document to the public, as well as any relevant ancillary information. The audience of this document should not be limited to members of Congress -the American people deserve to know the information it contains."

In a January 19 press release, Sensenbrenner implied wrong-doing on the part of the FBI, saying "The American people deserve to know the full extent of any surveillance abuses by the intelligence community. This memo should be released publicly so that we can begin to restore trust in government.”

The Nunes memo selectively discusses the FISA warrants for FBI surveillance of Trump foreign policy adviser, Carter Page. This man was identified as a Russian asset during investigation of a Russian spy ring in New York City. Page later gave an anti-American speech in Moscow. With his deep involvement with a Presidential campaign, it was no wonder he was under FBI surveillance. The agency would be remiss if Page wasn't being watched.

The odd thing is, Sensenbrenner asked for release of the memo that impugns the integrity of federal law enforcement without actually reading the memo. He had no idea of what sensitive classified information he was calling to be divulged.

Just last Sunday, at a Germantown town hall meeting, Sensenbrenner claimed that he had not read the memo. In response to a question, he said, " Now, have I seen it? No. And the reason for that is, if I saw it, I couldn't talk about it. And when it is released, I want to be able to talk about it." So the Congressman was clamoring to have a memo released, while having no idea what it contained. (13:13)

During the same meeting, Sensenbrenner further expressed his endorsement of the GOP's war on the FBI, saying, "I think there's some problems at the top of the FBI that need to be addressed, because I don't think that the FBI should ever become a political police force." (10:10) Sensenbrenner does have some power to bully the FBI. He is a member of the Judiciary Committee, the group that oversees the agency.

In his blind devotion to the President, Jim Sensenbrenner has jumped on the crazy train. He has bought into the wildest conspiracy theories of the far right. He is putting his crumbling party over our beloved country. His reckless partisan actions in attacking law enforcement are beyond the pale. He no longer acts for the good of America. He must be replaced in November.