I haven’t been watching much news lately. Between the elections, Trump bashing, and dishonest reporters, who needs it? I can get equally depressed playing bad golf, and at least I get some exercise in the process.

That explains how I missed the October 23 arrests of two former senior FBI officials charged with lying to Congress about their involvement in investigations concerning Hunter Biden and his infamous laptop.

Well, that’s not quite the same as charging them with covering up the laptop scandal, but if politicians and reporters can stretch the truth, why can’t I?

And is there anyone outside Washington, D.C., who still believes the laptop wasn’t Hunter’s?

Nikki Floris, former Deputy Assistant Director overseeing the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force (really, a nine-word title?), allegedly participated in communications involving investigations of Hunter Biden, including discussions with agents working on those cases.

But when she appeared before Congress in July 2023, she denied participating in discussions about Hunter Biden.

Also arrested was Bradley Benavides, another former senior official with the FBI’s Foreign Influence Task Force.

This fellow told Congress that he learned the FBI possessed Hunter Biden’s laptop from Wikipedia while preparing for his congressional testimony in 2023.

Seriously? And this fellow held a high-ranking position in the federal government?

According to prosecutors, FBI records and witness accounts contradict both officials’ testimony. Their attorneys dispute the allegations, and neither has been convicted of anything.

Since the arrests, FBI investigator Bryan Witt has testified that FBI Director Kash Patel ordered the investigation following President Trump’s call for scrutiny of alleged election-related misconduct. Witt acknowledged concerns that the investigation could appear politically motivated.

Meanwhile, U.S. Magistrate Judge Zia Faruqui has been giving prosecutors a rather difficult time, questioning their evidence and rejecting an improperly filed attempt to add obstruction charges.

Faruqui is the same judge who apologized earlier this year to Cole Allen, the man accused of attempting to assassinate Trump at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner.

Just more Washington, D.C., swamp politics, folks. Nothing to see here. Move along.

I have a suspicion that by the time this matter winds its way through the courts, we still won’t know whether two senior FBI officials deliberately lied to Congress or whether they were targeted for political payback.

Both possibilities deserve serious consideration, and neither has been established.

Except there’s one little detail I can’t seem to get past.

Wikipedia.

The Hunter Biden laptop controversy was one of the most widely discussed political stories surrounding the 2020 election. Politicians argued about it, reporters argued about it, and Americans argued about it.

Yet we’re supposed to believe a senior FBI counterintelligence official didn’t learn that his own agency possessed the laptop until he consulted Wikipedia three years later?

That explanation stretches the bounds of credulity.

And it brings me to my larger problem with the FBI.

In my opinion, among the federal institutions Americans are expected to trust, the FBI occupies a position somewhere near the bottom of the totem pole, just under the IRS.

From J. Edgar Hoover, who turned the bureau into his personal empire of intimidation and surveillance, through the controversies of more recent decades, the FBI’s leadership has too often given Americans reason to question its integrity.

As for Kash Patel, the jury is still out. If his investigation uncovers genuine wrongdoing, good for him. If it turns into political revenge, he deserves the same criticism as his predecessors.

I’ve been skeptical of the FBI for years. In fact, I once wrote a four-part editorial series examining the bureau’s history of dishonesty and misconduct.

That doesn’t mean every FBI agent is dishonest. I’m certain thousands of dedicated men and women perform their duties honorably. But institutional credibility comes from the top, and the bureau’s leadership has repeatedly damaged the reputation of the people working beneath it.

And that’s the real rub.

If an FBI agent questions you or me during a federal investigation, we’d better tell the truth. Deliberately lying to federal investigators can land an ordinary citizen in serious legal trouble.

Shouldn’t the same standard apply when senior FBI officials appear before Congress?

And shouldn’t the Justice Department be expected to prove its allegations fairly, without political interference or procedural shortcuts?

I don’t particularly care whether the person in question is a Republican, Democrat, FBI director, or the fellow sweeping the floors at the Hoover Building.

The rules ought to be the same for everybody.

The FBI’s motto is Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity.

It shouldn’t require a congressional subpoena to find out whether the third one is still in working order.