Who Should Lead the FBI? Former Agent Speaks Out
WASHINGTON -- Fired FBI Director James Comey is well known among his former colleagues as a prolific memo-writer. Now, Congress wants to see those notes and memos, which they consider a potential resource for the FBI's special investigation into alleged ties between Russia and President Donald Trump's campaign.
Former FBI agent Edmundo Mireles Jr. told CBN News, "Comey could have a hundred thousand memos. He worked for three and a half years as the FBI director. If he's worth his salt he would document his meetings."
For 25 years, Mireles worked for the agency. He says he's frustrated with the mainstream media's portrayal of Comey as a modern day J. Edger Hoover.
"Every time I meet with an outside entity or person, I wrote a report, a memorandum or investigative report of some kind, something to memorialize the event," he said.
CBN News Washington Correspondent Erik Rosales reporter asked, "Then to meet the president of the United States?"
"Of course," replied Mireles. "Then you meet the most powerful man in the world. Are you kidding? You're not going to write a memorandum about that? That is normal."
Mireles is one of the most decorated agents in the agency. He's best known for his role in the 1986 FBI shootout in Miami.
His heroic efforts earned him the FBI's Medal of Valor and Police Officer of the Year Award.
During that shooting, despite having only one arm, Mireles killed the two bank robbers involved. It was a fierce gun battle that left two other agents dead and five wounded.
"My friends tell me God must have a plan for me because he kept me alive for a reason," he told CBN News.
As for the agency's next director? Mireles says he believes front-runner Joe Lieberman is not the answer.
"From what I hear, he's a good man. But I don't think he's the right fit for the FBI," he said. "He's a politician and the FBI doesn't need a politician at the helm. We need someone who has a law enforcement background or prosecutorial experience, like another Comey, or another Mueller, or Lou Free."
Mireles says the FBI has been tarnished by politics and the new leader has to send a quick message that the agency is apolitical.
He added that the other priority is to seal the leaks. Mireles said he hopes they aren't coming from agents.
"To say there are not leaks coming from the FBI would be naive," Mireles acknowledged. "But whoever the leakers are that is a direct stab at the heart of America and America democracy."
