On Watch: Episode 5 – The Return of the Knapp Commission?

Dear Editor/Broadcaster,

Below, you will find the video/transcript for On Watch: Episode 5 – The Return of the Knapp Commission? 

If you go to the FBI’s website and look at the section titled, “What we investigate” – you will find the following statement:

“Public corruption, the FBI’s top criminal investigative priority, poses a fundamental threat to our national security and way of life.”

On the same webpage, the FBI goes on to detail the types of public corruption they investigate.  Let’s take a quick look at the first two that they list.  In order, they specify:

Border Corruption AND Election Integrity

What’s your perception of the FBI’s track record on those two issues?

When was the last time you saw reporting on a major arrest of corrupt officials operating a drug smuggling or human trafficking ring?  That’s right – you haven’t.

We have a heroin epidemic fueled by public corruption, yet there are virtually no arrests?  Those apprehended are sloppy, greedy solo operators — the little fish.  When has a large criminal enterprise been broken up?  What does that tell you?

When it comes to election integrity – President Trump has expressed interest in an investigation into the question of non-citizens voting.  A 2014 study by academics from both Old Dominion University and George Mason University suggests that between 800,000 and 1.2 million non-citizens voted in the 2008 presidential election.

That was eight years ago.  As of October 2016, there were documented cases of voter fraud investigations in Colorado, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Texas, Indiana, Oklahoma, and Wisconsin.

So, how many non-citizens do you think voted in 2016?  Perhaps we’ll find out?

Official corruption by law enforcement and elected officials is corrosive to the publics’ trust in government and the rule of law.  It shreds the fabric of our society and undermines the Constitution.

The principle of “Equal Justice Under the Law” becomes a bitter joke.

Let’s think about some of the public officials and scandals that resulted in people skating away without consequences for their misdeeds . . .

Of course there’s Hillary Rodham Clinton; but, also – the former Attorney General Eric Holder; Lois Lerner and her boss, Steven Miller at the IRS; Lisa Jackson at EPA; Benghazi; the Veteran’s Administration; Fast & Furious; swapping terrorists for Bowe Bergdahl;

Hold on! There are less well-known stories of public corruption out there . . .

10 DEA agents, including the regional director in Colombia, “attended ‘sex parties’ with prostitutes paid for by local drug cartels.” The agents accepted, “money, expensive gifts, and weapons from drug cartel members.” The 10 agents were given suspensions ranging from two to ten days.

A U.S. Attorney engaged in an inappropriate personal relationship with a subordinate in his office, harassed her after the relationship ended, lied to department officials investigating the matter, and, “attempted to influence or impede an Inspector General investigation.” Prosecution was declined and the US Attorney resigned.

Inspectors General are not always the answer to corruption.  In 2013, Charles Edwards, then-acting Inspector General for DHS paid his wife to telecommute from India. Several other charges were identified by Congress, but no prosecution.

In April of 1970, Mayor John Lindsay of New York City appointed Judge Whittman Knapp and four others to the “Commission to Investigate Alleged Police Corruption.”  It was commonly called the Knapp Commission.  Maybe you’ve seen the movie, “Serpico?”  I encourage you to do some independent research on the Knapp Commission.  I encourage President Trump and Attorney General Sessions to do the same.  The public corruption epidemic must be stopped.

I’m Chris Farrell –  On watch.

The official On Watch Twitter page can be found here.

For more information, or to set up and interview with Chris, please contact Jill Farrell at 202-646-5188, or at [email protected] New Year!

Carter Clews
Director of Communications

PS: Chris Farrell is Judicial Watch’s Director of Investigations. His network of inside sources and informants spans the globe. You can read his bio here.