The FBI is getting another public relations makeover of sorts starting from the inside out—it amounts to "Quit the leaks, dammit." CNN writes:
The FBI is overhauling its media policy, restricting contacts between the news media and its employees amid controversy over alleged leaks, bureau officials told CNN.
The new media policy was rolled out this week at a conference in Washington attended by FBI special agents in charge of its 56 field offices, according to officials who attended.
Hmm, why now? Oh yeah, cuz journalist reports of contacts between Trump associates and Russian operatives is eating the White House alive. It's worth noting that many of those reports, fueled by anonymous sources, have proven correct. FBI director James Comey all but confirmed a number of them when he testified last month that the bureau is indeed investigating potential coordination between the Trump camp and the Russians.
Now admittedly, in an ideal world, FBI leaks probably aren't ideal and hopefully wouldn't even be necessary. But that's a fantasy world that doesn't exist right now.
Like everything in Trumpland, the FBI's new policy has a schizophrenic feel to it. In recent years, Comey has been attempting to give the public more of a peek behind the scenes. A new television series airing later this month will give viewers a glimpse of how the FBI handled certain security issues such as the 2015 terrorist attack in Paris. Comey answered questions following a Washington premiere of the series.
"I worry sometimes that people don't know us," Comey said during a discussion following a screening of the show.
"We did a lot last year that confused people..."
As we have pointed out before, no one is confused about the FBI's role in 2016—the Comey letter released less than two weeks before the election dealt a fatal blow to Hillary Clinton.
Back then, Trump was all about leaking and Comey, for that matter.
"It took guts for Director Comey to make the move that he made in light of the kind of opposition he had where they’re trying to protect [Hillary] from criminal prosecution," Trump said last October. "It took a lot of guts.”
Right. Well, what comes around goes around, Donnie.
Live by the leak, die by the leak.