Fair to say, no FBI director has oversaw more changes in recent decades than Mueller, who was forced to reorganize the bureau after the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.
I’d like you to send your thoughts to me at Allan.Lengel@gmail.com so I can publish them. Preferably, it would be best to include your name.
But I will publish anonymous comments — positive or negative — so long as they’re thoughtful and done in good taste.
The deadline to submit comments will be Sunday, Sept. 1.
I’d like to hear from you.
The US Attorney General and other heads of agencies publicly praise Mueller’s service at the Bureau but there’s another side the public doesn’t know. Mueller’s personnel decision practices has deeply scared the morale of FBI employees. He brought Joe Demarest in from retirement to lead the NY office, effectively telling all of the onboard Senior Executives they couldn’t handle the job. He appointed Sean Joyce as Deputy Director, who is now the performance evaluator of SACs – Agents who head individual FBI field offices – but Joyce himself has never been an SAC. These are just two examples of personnel appointments that would cause anyone to shake their head. So was Mueller’s tenure at the Bureau beneficial to the agency…… Yes and no. We are a different agency because of the employees’ dedication to be a better agency. But while Mueller led change, he also sucked the life of morale out of the Bureau, leaving numerous wounds behind because he did things his way instead of the right way. This is what the public doesn’t know.
I first met Director Mueller in the New Haven division in early 2002. At the time, I was a member of the Director’s Advisory Group (DAC), specifically Aegis, the support employee advisory committee. I asked Director Mueller if he would be continuing with the DAC’s the Directors Sessions and Freeh had worked with. He advised he would. From spring of 2002 until Spring of 2013, when I stepped down after my second term as Co-Chair, I had the opportunity to meet with Director Mueller and his executive staff on numerous occasions. We were always treated with respect and kindness. We had many discussions regarding the concerns and issues of employees across the bureau. The issues ranged from studies of positions for possible upgrades to the impact of any furloughs on employees. Did we get everything we asked for, no. Did we have many discussion regarding our issues and why they would or wouldn’t be considered. Yes, it didn’t always go our way but we usually came away with an understanding as to why it couldn’t be. Will I say his tenure was perfect, no. But I was truly honored to be a support employee who had the opportunity to represent my peers and I know our concerns were heard and no decision was made without thoughtful consideration. Kate Regan Luciani, NHO