Letter: No one is above the law

To the Editor:

My first tour in the military was with a security group. Everyone assigned had a top-secret, crypto security clearance. I say this not to brag, but to provide a brief background of where I am coming from. We did not necessarily have free run of other departments. Everything is on a need to know basis. Intelligence and classified documents do not become obsolete in just a few months. Naturally, they are classified according to their importance. Intelligence can be gained basically through electronics and what is referred to as “humint” such as assets or informants.

I dealt with the latter later in my career. Depending on the degree of detail, and particularly if the info is singular in nature, that information has to be handled carefully so as not to identify the source and possibly put them in danger. This is no different whether involving national security or in law enforcement. Having gone from the military to federal law enforcement, I think I can speak with some authority there also.

The search warrant has to meet certain standards, details which leave no doubt in a federal judge’s mind that specific items can be found in specific places. Details on how that information was obtained is provided to prove the warrant is justified. So, the FBI is not politically “weaponized.” But according to sources in the Trump administration, Trump wanted IRS audits of his “perceived enemies.”

It was quite a coincidence that after Trump fired FBI Director [James] Comey and Assistant Director [Andrew] McCabe took over briefly, that both they and their spouses were subjected to lengthy audits. As far as the current administration hiring 8,700 IRS agents, fact check it. Some will be admin types and some will be special agents.

There are those that like to distort the facts to create fear and serve their divisive ideology. Special agents are the only IRS employees authorized to carry handguns; fact check it. So let’s not make it sound like 8,700 personnel will be gun-toting political appointees. Last, no one is above the law, especially when it comes to classified documents.

Allen Close

Oswego