Isn't that the agency that wiretapped Angela Merkel's phones for years? This is hardly "through the looking glass" - it's just what they do.
We spent much of the twentieth century with our presidents living under the thumb of an autocratic FBI director. That's not how "checks and balances" are meant to work.
Excellent point here. Even the intelligence officials being criticized by Trump and Congressional Republicans aren't partisan; most of them served under Bush or Clinton before Obama. Even "Communist" Brennan, as they call him, was too conservative for Obama to nominate during his first term, even though he was recommended by many, including Defense Secretary Robert Gates, another Bush holdover. The IC is a revolving door for these guys.
