Javed Ali, Ford School professor and former senior official at FBI, the National Intelligence Council, the National Counterterrorism Center, and the National Security Council, wrote on The Conversation about the what the FBI does, its history and agenda, and the role of the FBI director.
Ali writes that in the past, "the FBI has focused on investigating federal crimes on matters like racketeering, fraud, public corruption, illegal financial schemes and organized crime, to name a few" but has also "always focused on national security threats."
"The FBI’s focus on terrorists and spies continued for decades after and intensified in the 1990s with the emergence of jihadist threats in the United States and abroad. Despite the warning signs of attacks in the run-up to 9/11, a number of gaps and challenges remained within the FBI, which contributed to those attacks and led to major reforms within the organization." Ali says the FBI is "demonstrating the continuing evolution of the organization’s national security focus as new threats emerge and legacy threats recede."
Addressing the role of the FBI director, Ali writes, "The FBI director is presidentially appointed and Senate-confirmed, but is not a member of the cabinet. The FBI is a subagency within the Department of Justice, whose head, the attorney general, is a cabinet member. The FBI director is appointed to serve a full 10-year term that theoretically insulates the director from political pressure."
To do his job effectively, Ali says, "The FBI director has to manage multiple relationships" because "the director reports both to the attorney general and the president, is overseen by judiciary and intelligence committees in Congress, and likewise has to maintain the trust and confidence of the American people to investigate crimes and prevent national security threats."
Read the full commentary here.
