350 25 Years of Lock Her Up Politics: the FBI is a Very Republican Place

🧨 Chapter Title: 25 Years of Lock Her Up Politics: The FBI Is a Very Republican Place

“I knew they’d never let me be President.” — Hillary Clinton, November 9, 2016

She was right. And, as usual, no one listened.

When Clinton said the GOP only understands strength—i.e., the definition of a bully—she was eviscerated. But she was right again.

Who is “they”? The Republican Party? The Patriarchy? The FBI? All of the above. Yet in a sense differentiating is redundant. They’re all part of the same machine.

🔍 Modular Insert: Trumpland, Then and Now

In 2016 the FBI was jokingly referred to as “Trumpland” within the Bureau. In truth, it always was

The FBI has never had a Democratic Director in its 115-year history. It is, and has long been, GOPLand.

See Chapter: President Joe’s First Mistake for Biden’s failure to replace Christopher Wray.

🧠 Philosophical Insert: The FBI’s Clinton Problem

The Bureau’s Hillary Derangement Syndrome didn’t begin in 2016. It began in 1992—when Clinton committed the unforgivable sin of beating their guy, Bush Sr.

In September 1993, Judge Louis Freeh left the Southern District of New York to become FBI Director. He was a Republican, a former agent, and a deeply antagonistic figure toward the Clinton White House.

Clinton had fired William Sessions—another Republican—after a DOJ ethics report detailed misuse of perks, travel, and obstruction of internal investigations.  But Freeh proved no upgrade. He returned his White House pass in protest and spent the next eight years investigating his boss.

See Louis Freeh, My FBI (St. Martin’s Press, 2005), p. 212, for his claim that Clinton’s “moral compass was broken.”

📎 FN Cascade

• Amy Chozick, Chasing Hillary: Ten Years, Two Presidential Campaigns, and One Intact Glass Ceiling (Harper, 2018), documents Clinton’s post-election quote: “They were never going to let me be president.”
• Beverly Gage, “The FBI Has Always Been Political,” TIME, Nov. 2022, outlines the Bureau’s partisan roots and Hoover’s Republican machine ties.
• Louis Freeh, My FBI, p. 212, describes Clinton’s “closets full of skeletons.”
• DOJ OPR Report, 1993, details William Sessions’ ethics violations and obstruction of internal probes.
• CBS News, “Ex-FBI Chief on Clinton’s Scandals,” Oct. 2005, recounts Freeh’s toxic relationship with Clinton.

🔍 Modular Insert: Barr’s Pick, Clinton’s Mistake

Clinton fired William Sessions because Bill Barr told him to. Barr wanted a loyalist in place—and got the King of GOP Hacks, Louis Freeh.

In hiring Freeh, Clinton appointed a fox to guard the henhouse. And Bill was the hen.

Freeh later claimed in My FBI that he only came to distrust Clinton slowly. But the record shows otherwise: Freeh and the rest of the  FBI’s senior ranks already hated Clinton after he beat their guy, George Bush Sr.

See Louis Freeh, My FBI (St. Martin’s Press, 2005), p. 212, where he writes:

“Whatever moral compass the president was consulting was leading him in the wrong direction. His closets were full of skeletons just waiting to burst out.”

🧠 Philosophical Insert: The Culture of GOPLand

The FBI’s Clinton hatred wasn’t tactical—it was cultural.

Agents openly mourned Bush Sr.’s loss. They called Clinton’s campaign “dirty.” They romanticized Bush’s war record and mocked Clinton’s saxophone cool.

Freeh gave back his White House pass in protest—something he never would’ve done to a Republican president. Indeed, Christopher Wray never felt the need to do this to Trump despite his being under investigation for in reality far more serious conduct.

See CBS News, “Ex-FBI Chief on Clinton’s Scandals”, Oct. 2005.

🧱 Sidebar: Comey’s Martha Stewart Consolation Prize

Obama would make the same mistake Clinton did—appointing a “bipartisan” FBI Director from GOPLand.

Comey’s indictment of Martha Stewart made no legal sense. But it made symbolic sense:

Starr didn’t get Hillary. Comey got Martha.

See James Comey, A Higher Loyalty (Flatiron Books, 2018), p. 189, where he reflects on the Stewart case as a “message” about lying.

📎 FN Cascade

• William Barr, as AG under Bush Sr., released the ethics report that led to Sessions’ ouster.
• Louis Freeh, appointed by Clinton, returned his White House pass and spent eight years investigating his boss.
• James Comey, as U.S. Attorney, indicted Martha Stewart for obstruction—not insider trading. See Law & Crime, “James Comey Struggled Over Whether to Prosecute Martha Stewart”, 2018. He also “struggled” over wether to do the Comey Letter that flipped an election-in violation of rules and protocol. He once again made the wrong choice.
• Ken Starr, in Contempt: A Memoir of the Clinton Investigation (Penguin, 2018), devotes a full chapter to explaining why he failed to indict Hillary Clinton.

🧨 Modular Insert: Unprecedented Animus? We’ve Got Your Animus Right Here

In 2018, Trey Gowdy foamed at the mouth during Peter Strzok’s testimony, accusing him of “unprecedented animus” toward Trump.

“I don’t give a damn what you appreciate, Agent Strzok,” Gowdy barked.

“I don’t appreciate having an FBI agent with an unprecedented level of animus working on two major investigations during 2016.” — House Judiciary Hearing, July 12, 2018

But if Gowdy was outraged by Strzok’s private texts, what would he say about the open hostility toward Hillary Clinton inside the FBI?

🧠 Philosophical Insert: Trumplandia Wasn’t a Joke—It Was a Culture

“The FBI is Trumpland,” one agent told The Guardian. Clinton was “the antichrist personified to a large swath of FBI personnel.”

Agents openly discussed voting for Trump. They leaked damaging info about Clinton. They forced Comey’s hand on the October Letter.

See Spencer Ackerman, “The FBI Is Trumpland,” The Guardian, Nov. 4, 2016.

🧱 Sidebar: The Clinton Foundation Probe

The FBI opened investigations into the Clinton Foundation based on Clinton Cash, a discredited piece of right-wing oppo.

Agents in New York, Little Rock, and D.C. pursued leads despite DOJ resistance.

Sally Yates reportedly told prosecutors to “shut it down.” Andrew McCabe required personal sign-off for any overt steps.

See Declassified Memo, DOJ Timeline on Clinton Foundation, 2017; Kash Patel disclosures, 2025.

📎 FN Cascade

• Trey Gowdy, House Judiciary Hearing, July 12, 2018, accused Strzok of “unprecedented animus.”
• Spencer Ackerman, “The FBI Is Trumpland,” The Guardian, Nov. 4, 2016.
• Law & Crime, “Top Bombshells in OIG Report,” June 14, 2018, notes Horowitz’s refusal to consider partisan motives in FBI leaks.
• Declassified DOJ Memo, 2017, documents Yates’s “shut it down” directive and McCabe’s restrictions on Clinton Foundation probe.
• Ken Starr, Contempt: A Memoir, devotes a full chapter to explaining why he failed to indict Hillary Clinton.

🧨 Modular Insert: The Myth of 13 Angry Democrats

Trump’s favorite deflection was the myth of “13 angry Democrats.” But the FBI is a very Republican place.

• James Comey: lifelong Republican
• Andrew McCabe: Republican, falsely labeled a Democrat because his wife ran as one
• Robert Mueller: Republican
• Christopher Wray: Republican, former Bush DOJ official and Chris Christie’s Bridgegate lawyer

Comey excluded McCabe from the October 27 decision to send the Comey Letter—claiming McCabe’s wife made him too partisan. But Comey himself had spent 25 years pursuing the Clintons and donated to both of Obama’s opponents.

See James Comey, A Higher Loyalty (Flatiron Books, 2018), p. 273; Lawfare, “Inspector General on the FBI in Fall 2016”, June 2018.

🧠 Philosophical Insert: The Prevent Defense

Democrats play politics like it’s a football game. But they run the prevent defense—a strategy designed to avoid risk, not win.

Clinton kept Freeh. Obama appointed Comey. Biden kept Wray.

The GOP doesn’t negotiate with saboteurs. Democrats promote them.

🧱 Sidebar: Trumplandia and the Rogue Pipeline

The NY FBI office leaked like a sieve. Giuliani teased the Comey Letter days before it dropped. Devin Nunes admitted he knew about the laptop in late September.

See Devlin Barrett, October Surprise: How the FBI Tried to Save Itself and Crashed an Election (PublicAffairs, 2020), pp. 212–219.

📎 FN Cascade

• James Comey, A Higher Loyalty, p. 273, describes excluding McCabe from the October 27 meeting.
• Lawfare, “Inspector General on the FBI in Fall 2016,” June 2018, details Comey’s lack of situational awareness and McCabe’s sidelining.
• DOJ OIG Report, June 2018, confirms Horowitz’s refusal to consider partisan motives in NY FBI leaks.
• Devlin Barrett, October Surprise, pp. 212–219, documents the rogue leak pipeline and Giuliani’s foreknowledge.
• The Guardian, “The FBI Is Trumpland,” Nov. 4, 2016, quotes agents calling Clinton “the antichrist personified.”