Everyone can sympathize with public sector employees affected by the government shutdown.

While there are some Federal agencies that are a pestilence, e.g. the EPA, the IRS, whose ranks should have been winnowed down by a strategically managed shutdown (sadly, that’s not what we have here), there are plenty of Federal workers who do important work.

That includes the rank and file of the FBI. Many of whom are fighting organized crime and other real threats, even as their leadership has corrupted the Bureau in order to stage a coup against the 2016 election.

And that’s at the heart of the problem.

The election has empowered unelected officials to start abusing their behavior and behaving like politicians.

FBI Director Wray’s message is an example of that unacceptable behavior.

Agency and organizational leaders are appointed officials. They are not meant to make public statements attacking elected officials. The interests of agency employees are meant to be represented by unions and ad hoc organizations, not by appointed officials. 

There’s an obvious conflict of interest there.

The FBI Director has the right to let his people know that he cares and what he’s doing to see to it that they get paid. He does not have the mandate to attack government policy. Especially at a time when the FBI is already deeply politicized and has been caught participating in a coup against the elected government.

Wray expressing anger over the government shutdown and condemning the “mind-boggling” and “short-sighted” shutdown is unacceptable. It’s understandable for someone working for the government to feel that way, individually. But a public statement on the Bureau site, complete with video, is a basic violation and politicization of the Bureau’s mission.

And it’s another reason why the FBI now has a worse image than it did at the lowest point of the Hoover era.