Reforms to the FBI are necessary, but should not be politicized, says John Yoo, law professor at the University of California, Berkeley, in a column for The New York Times
FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Jeff Sessions may have President Donald Trump as an obstacle in the reforms, Yoo wrote, and the president's "impulse to transform every act of government into a partisan conflict undermines the difficult task of repairing a Justice Department that sorely needs it."
Yoo, who worked in George W. Bush's administration with Wray, wrote that the resignation of deputy director Andrew McCabe was an "important step forward."
However, Yoo noted, Trump had slammed McCabe for months in tweets, and the president "has clouded an overdue changing of the guard and has provoked resistance to reform efforts. Democrats can now fairly characterize his actions as politically motivated."
The law professor also said Trump has negatively affected the situation surrounding the House Intelligence Committee memo that contains allegations the Obama administration sought a wiretap warrant based on information in a dossier produced by Fusion GPS.
"Again, the president seems unable to allow good government to proceed freely," Yoo wrote.
"Instead, he has claimed for months that the Obama administration hatched a conspiracy to illegally eavesdrop on him and, according to reports, has decided to approve release of the Nunes memo even before reviewing it," Yoo added, referring to House Intelligence Committee chairman Rep. Devin Nunes, R-Calif.
The president is not behaving as the founders of the United States intended, Yoo wrote.
"Rather than conserving his authority for true crises, he seems intent on creating and prolonging false ones. This may appeal to his base, but he is eroding the presidency's constitutional power and political authority," he added.
The FBI is reviewing a second dossier on Trump, this one authored by a former political operative for Bill and Hillary Clinton.
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