On this episode of the podcast, Amanda Head asks a veteran FBI agent, “What the heck happened to the Bureau?” 

During this eye-opening conversation, Amanda Head talks with former FBI Special Agent Thomas Baker, who spent 33 years inside the Bureau and is the author of The Fall of the FBI. Baker pulls back the curtain on what he describes as a dramatic cultural and operational shift that transformed the agency from a premier law enforcement institution into something far more politicized. He points to sweeping changes implemented by then-Director Robert Mueller after 9/11, arguing they redirected the FBI’s core mission away from traditional crime-fighting and toward an intelligence-driven model. 

Baker also weighs in on the controversial Trump-era investigations, the leadership of James Comey and Andrew McCabe, and why he believes those years further eroded public trust. While he gives credit to former Director Christopher Wray for attempting to steer the Bureau back toward its law enforcement roots, Baker makes it clear: meaningful reform is still needed.

You can get your hands on a copy of Thomas’ book, “The Fall of the FBI: How A Once Great Agency Became A Threat To Democracy” by visiting this Amazon weblink: https://www.amazon.com/Fall-FBI-Agency-Became-Democracy/dp/1637586248