In the past, I’ve said bureaucracies are a form of permanent government. The FBI, CIA, and IRS wield immense power. No matter who we elect, these people stay and can have an agenda. If these organizations use their capabilities to affect the choice of their nominal elected masters, democracy is in trouble.

These organizations attempted to interfere in the last two presidential elections. If we didn’t know it already from the years-long Mueller investigation turned up no evidence of collusion between Donald Trump and Russia, the recently released Durham Report details how the FBI pursued a case that originated in the Hillary Clinton Campaign with no factual basis.

The Mueller investigation cast a pall over the early years of the Trump administration. Bias towards one political party and its candidate is a central theme in the Durham report. However, it didn’t cost Trump a narrow 2016 win.

We can’t say the same about the 2022 election. The New York Post broke the Hunter Biden laptop story a few weeks before the election, indicating at least highly unethical behavior on the part of the Biden Family. Within 48 hours, 51 former intelligence senior people signed and released a letter claiming it looked like a Russian operation. The letter received wide media circulation, while some media outlets banned linking to the New York Post Story. Biden used the letter to blunt Trump’s attempt to bring up what was found on Hunter Biden’s laptop in the last debate before the election.

The FBI had the computer for months and had to know if it was Hunter Biden’s and if the contents were genuine. The Director of National Intelligence, John Ratcliffe, said there was no evidence of a link between Russia and the laptop; he received little press notice. FBI Director Christopher Wray’s silence was deafening. 

Of course, the Post story was true. Within days Tony Bobulinski, a Hunter Biden business associate, appeared on the Tucker Carlson Show and verified emails found on the laptop. He also identified Joe Biden as the ” big Guy” in for a cut of the deal. Most of the media ignored him. The same press now admits the laptop was always Hunter’s, and its information is accurate.

Polls show the election might’ve turned differently if the CIA and FBI had told the truth at the time. These important agencies interfered in a presidential election. This dereliction is unacceptable. 

These facts might be an argument for the return of Donald Trump as president, but even though these shenanigans hurt him, he isn’t the one to reform the federal bureaucracies. 

The FBI went to great lengths to keep him from the presidency, and when he won, continued with the phony years-long “Russian Colusion” investigation, but he could not change the bureaucracies. He had four years to do so but failed through a lack of knowledge and persistence. While Trump appointed two CIA directors and an FBI Director, both agencies failed him in the Biden laptop affair. Confirming the New York Post’s Hunter Biden laptop story was the least they could do, but they were silent. Nothing changed.

Forcing bureaucracies to maintain strict political impartiality requires the ability to evaluate and appoint the right people at the top—leaders who know what they want to accomplish and have the skill to get the job done. Some legislation will be needed—for instance, stronger whistle-blower protections. The FBI is especially weak in this area. 

Donald Trump’s poor interpersonal skills leave him in the wrong place to effect change. Few of his former cabinet members support him. While he demands loyalty, he has often shown none to others. Remember John McCain sinking Obamacare repeal with his decisive no vote. Trump has burned a lot of bridges. Recruiting the right people for a second term will be difficult. 

If Donald Trump wins, he will be a lame duck. Presidents in their second term always lost much of their clout-the very thing he’ll need to reform the bureaucracies. 

In any case, Trump’s negative influence on the Georgia Senate runoff elections led to Republicans losing the Senate. Had they had the upper house, the Biden family payments and other disclosures would likely have been two years earlier.

Of course, he has to get elected. Democrats make no secret of who they want to run against. Trump can win the Republican nomination, but since his razor-thin 2016 win, he has done nothing but lose on the national stage.

Republicans have plenty of candidates who have shown skill in controlling government and enacting legislation. Ron DeSantis in Florida is a prime example of a successful chief executive at the state level. He isn’t alone. The Republicans have many present and former governors with known skills.

The Republican Governors are young, energetic, and eligible for a second term. More importantly, they have less baggage making them more electable. 

For all these reasons, Trump, while suffering from these bureaucracies, is not the person to tame these beasts, and reining them in is a must if the Republic is to survive.