Sometimes a story breaks that is truly surprising in this otherwise highly predictable political environment, and that happened on Monday. Reports came out that Timothy Thibault, FBI Washington Field Office Assistant Special Agent in Charge (that’s a mouthful), had been escorted out of FBI headquarters by multiple “official-looking” individuals.
Soon enough, it was confirmed that Thibault, who was also part of “election integrity” efforts during the 2020 election, had been removed for showing political bias and attempting to cover up the Hunter Biden laptop story as early as 2019. That was long before the DOJ’s 90-day policy prior to an election to not deal with politicized cases kicked in, showing a thought-out effort to protect Joe Biden. Thibault was also involved in opening the current criminal investigation into Donald Trump, which most recently resulted in the FBI raiding the former president’s Florida home.
The Washington Times reported eyewitness accounts that “Mr. Thibault was seen exiting the bureau’s elevator last Friday escorted by two or three ‘headquarters-looking types.'” The article appears to have been updated and now states that Thibault “abruptly resigned” but that he was “forced to leave his post” and cites two unnamed former FBI officials…
Whistleblowers alleged that Thibault concealed the partisan nature of evidence from FBI Director Christopher Wray and Attorney General Merrick Garland to secure their approval to open an investigation into former President Donald Trump. That investigation culminated in the FBI’s raid on Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate earlier this month.
The million-dollar question, in my mind at least, is what this means for the Hunter Biden investigation. I’ll admit to being a natural cynic, and seeing Trump raided while the FBI hasn’t touched the president’s son despite out-in-the-open evidence of criminality wasn’t exactly a confidence booster in the bureau’s credibility. No one would be blamed for assuming Hunter Biden was being let off scot-free.
Could this be a sign that things have reached home too far, though? Thibault was obviously at the center of trying to suppress the Hunter Biden scandal, going so far as to outright nuke the investigation a year before the 2020 presidential election. His removal seems like a step the FBI and DOJ wouldn’t take if there wasn’t something more going on here. I mean, we’ve all seen the shady characters those institutions have protected over the years.
Maybe, just maybe the internal pressure has gotten too great. I know, there’s a bit of hope mixed in that statement, but perhaps there are a few good men left inside the federal apparatus who aren’t going to sit by and let Hunter Biden’s rank corruption slide. In other words, I’m not suggesting that AG Merrick Garland suddenly stop being a flack for the White House. I am suggesting that enough people may have spoken up that he simply couldn’t ignore the issue anymore.
I’m going out on a bit of a limb saying this, but I do think Hunter Biden is ultimately going to end up indicted, and I think this move with Thibault is a sign that the investigation has reached a boiling point. You won’t see anything happen prior to November because of the aforementioned policy (though, it should not apply to Hunter Biden, in my opinion), but I believe the issue is serious enough that not even Biden’s DOJ can continue to cover it up without getting caught. The recent spate of FBI and DOJ whistleblowers has done immense good in forcing accountability from those who otherwise wouldn’t have given it.
Lastly, given Thibault’s involvement with the Mar-a-Lago raid, there’s also a possibility that the FBI realized it crossed a line it shouldn’t have crossed. This could be a course correction, albeit, it’s not one that should satisfy anyone. There’s more work to be done here, but in an environment that has offered little good news lately, this may be a small, yet welcome glimmer of hope.