We called it in 2017 with the revelations exposed about the politicized Intelligence Community Assessment on Russian Election Meddling, which was not supported by any unclassified facts and later was revealed to have used the discredited Steele Dossier constructed by the retired foreign intelligence agent as he was being paid by the Democrat party. The ensuing three years revealed the illegal FISA warrants issued based on lies from Crossfire Hurricane agents, lies to the FISA Court by FBI agents and Attorneys, lies by senior FBI and DOJ leaders, revelations about foreign based operations as early as possibly 2015 and so on. With Coronavirus COVID-19 from Wuhan, China spreading rapidly overseas and at home, are we now to trust these institutions information on the virus and where it comes from? That’s the threat folks and it’s a big one.

Can we trust them? That is the question before us regarding the largest intelligence community the world has ever known. I say no, we can’t. As we ponder whether the Patriot Act and FISA law should be reauthorized, we must first answer the question, are these vast bureaucracies capable of reforming themselves in the slightest? The reality is that senior intelligence leaders, led by those in the CIA and FBI, used foreign-based US operations and friendly foreign intelligence agencies to construct a set of lies used to smear a presidential campaign and to eliminate a duly elected president’s administration’s ability to govern. As unbelievable as that sounds, it is factually true and is supported by the facts that have come out from various investigations by the Department of Justice Inspector General, the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, the Senate Intelligence Committee, and various admissions or evidence (such as the text messages between FBI Counterintelligence Deputy Chief Peter Strozk and his paramour FBI Counsel attorney Lisa Page) and now we have to figure out what changes to make so our citizens and decision makers can once again have confidence and faith in these institutions.

In government, change is difficult, but here is what we need to do. First dismantle the Central Intelligence Agency and divide its capabilities between the Department of Defense and Department of State. The CIA is no longer an organization that is either needed or that can be trusted to operate in our republic. It is not needed because we have three government agencies, DOD, DOS for foreign intelligence, and DHS domestically, that need and can produce their own intelligence with some information added by the National Security Agency (NSA). The FBI needs to be restructured to only a law enforcement agency and its domestic national security intelligence responsibilities re-assigned to a new DHS agency whose sole responsibility will be domestic national security. Organizational changes aren’t the only remedies we need to address in this morass of illegal activities.

We must also strengthen accountability for our law enforcement agents, Justice Department personnel, Intelligence officers and civil service government employees. New laws should be passed defining allowable counterintelligence investigations into political campaigns, candidates, and activities. Approval thresholds and requirements for what level of approval authority is required need to be set and clear lines of command, to include required candidate involvement, must be drawn and implemented.

Without these changes, our country doesn’t stand a chance of lasting another hundred years. President Trump should veto the current Patriot Act reauthorization bill and Congress must address these critically important issues in the permanent Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court legislations to safeguard our country’s future. It is now or never: reform or die.