Why Is the FBI Targeting Law-and-Order Americans? What Enabled the FBI’s Surveillance Powers?

In the wake of the 9/11 attack, the FBI saw its power—and budget—expand. And yet the recent hostage situation in a Texas synagogue is the latest in a long line of FBI failures to stop Islamic terror attacks.

After all, the Bureau’s mission is to keep Americans safe from terrorists and hostile foreign agents. Instead, the FBI has turned its power against the American public. In recent years, the FBI has spied on a presidential campaign, political protestors, and now parents of public-school students.

It’s all too much for the many Americans who used to revere the world’s premier law enforcement authority. And yet the FBI’s abuse of power has long worried others, like Harry Truman. As World War II was winding down, the president worried that the FBI was becoming like Germany’s infamous secret police, the Gestapo.

In this week’s episode of Over The Target, Lee Smith and Brendon Fallon ask if Truman’s fears have come true.