1. United States
2. Texas
3. Letter

Have all standards of competence and general honesty, and even concern that these are attributes that should serve the country become obsolete? ProPublica reported that FBI Director Kash Patel waived the standard polygraph exams required to obtain top security clearances for Deputy Director Dan Bongino and two other senior FBI staff members. The exam includes questions about foreign contacts, drug use, whether someone has a criminal history, and mishandling of classified information. Like Patel himself, former right-wing podcaster Bongino had no prior experience at the FBI. The deputy director has access to the PDB, which includes some of the nation’s most closely guarded secrets, including information from the CIA and the NSA. Government officials told ProPublica that ascending to the FBI’s second-highest-ranking official without passing a standard background check is unprecedented. Unprecedented. Another one of those words that lend an aura of normalcy to an abnormal situation. This is not unprecedented. This is dangerous. This is allowing a person who has not been properly vetted access to America’s security. And secrets. This would be unacceptable in any other job that required background checks to ascertain character and life history before being hired. Instead, we are handing America to who-knows-what on a silver platter of cronyism. This is so unacceptable that it’s not to be believed. Where is the Congress? Aren’t y’all supposed to care that appointees are at least a bit qualified? And not a danger to our Republic? A rhetorical question. There are few people in the Trump administration that could pass a background check for a job at McDonalds. Security concerns seem a relic of the past. Governance by hubris is the new expertise. Whatever. Release the Epstein files at least.