On Tuesday, Saagar Enjeti of The Daily Caller uncovered a copy of a flyer for the farewell party for former FBI director James Comey’s assistant, Josh Campbell. Here it is:
EXCLUSIVE: I obtained a copy of former @Comey assistant @joshscampbell‘s goodbye flyer at the FBI. It invites attendee’s to “celebrate his new endeavor defending the bureau as an LE analyst at @CNN” https://t.co/JgjzVSJd1m pic.twitter.com/BXStmSgzcq
— Saagar Enjeti (@esaagar) February 6, 2018
Note the ridiculousness of the statement on the flyer that colleagues will “celebrate his new endeavor defending the Bureau as a CNN Law Enforcement Analyst!”
That’s a problem for CNN, and it’s a problem for the FBI. First off, CNN should be insulted to hire someone whose entire job will presumably be defending the FBI from outside assault — wouldn’t a law enforcement analyst, you know, analyze law enforcement? It’s also a problem for the FBI — your job at the FBI isn’t to defend the FBI, but to enforce the law. Once your job becomes “defender of the institution,” you’re at risk of corrupting the goal on behalf of the organization.
If you want to give the impression that the FBI serves the people and not itself, and that it doesn’t have its own political agenda, this isn’t the way to do it.