INTERVIEW | What’s at Stake If FBI Isn’t Fixed

The FBI needs to be fixed, because it has become a threat to the fundamental liberties of Americans, Steve Bradbury of The Heritage Foundation argues in a lengthy new white paper released this week.

"The liberty of the American people is under threat from politicized national security agencies, exemplified by the abuses of the Federal Bureau of Investigation,” Bradbury writes.

The Heritage Foundation on Monday published the report authored by Bradbury, a distinguished fellow in the executive vice president’s office there. (The Daily Signal is the news outlet of The Heritage Foundation.)

Bradbury's nearly 9,800-word report, "How to Fix the FBI," contains "extensive suggestions for Congress to rethink the entire FBI at a fundamental level: to start over from scratch and reconstruct the Bureau to refocus on law enforcement, bring it under meaningful oversight, and restrain it to protect Americans’ constitutional rights."

So, what's at stake if the FBI isn't fixed?

"Well, the liberties of the American people. That's what's under threat. Do we really have free speech in this country? Do we really have a right to exercise our religious beliefs?" Bradbury says.

"Do we have a right to show up and protest at abortion clinics? Do we have a right, do parents have a right to exercise control over the education of their children in public school? All these things are being identified by some in this country as a threat," he adds.

Bradbury joins today's episode of "The Daily Signal Podcast" to further discuss his report, why he thinks the FBI needs to be fixed, and some of the "11 major elements that we think Congress should consider as part of that mandate to rebuild the FBI."