Since the FBI raid on former President Trump’s personal residence, the bureau has come under justifiable political fire. Former Vice President Pence, who increasingly is making signals he wants to break from Trump’s orbit, has come out condemning those criticizing the FBI.

Those remarks are being used by progressives, who want to exploit divisions within the Republican Party. Mr. Pence surely knew this would be the case so what is his angle?

What was odd about it was that just on August 9th, he expressed concern over the raid.

A week later, he seems to change his tune.

“We can hold the attorney general accountable for the decision that he made without attacking rank-and-file law enforcement personnel at the FBI”, he said.

Do you know of any prominent conservative, or even one that is not so prominent, who suggests “attacking rank and file agents?”  What is he talking about? Our problem is with leadership, and criticism should not be construed as suggesting violence at all.

We can understand that Mr. Pence wants a future in politics and we can understand he may have disagreements with Trump. With that, we are fine. But he is not attacking Trump with his remarks, he is attacking conservatives who dare to question the wisdom of politicizing law enforcement.

Incidentally, the FBI should primarily be an investigatory agency, but over the years has suffered mission creep. Law enforcement in the US, for the most part, is a matter of local responsibility. America is not the place for a federal police force for it is inimical to our constitution.

The justification for the raid on Trump’s residence aside, the FBI has been accumulating a string of failures dating back to the anthrax investigations, Richard Jewell, Ruby Ridge, and the slaughterhouse at Waco.

Of more recent vintage, is the direct involvement of high-ranking FBI officials in the Russia collusion hoax, spying on political candidates, lying to FISA judges, and interfering in the political process.

These systemic failures are worthy of critique. We want a well-functioning FBI to investigate crime and monitor the activities of our foreign enemies at home. Maybe they should have given us a head’s up on Iranian-sponsored assassins or the penetration of our institutions by Red China before investigating parents who object to drag queens performing in front of kindergarteners.

We conservatives support law enforcement as they are essential to ordered liberty. However, this love is not unconditional. We demand that they behave within the law, and stay out of partisan politics.

However, when they get out of line, we say so. That is entirely consistent with the conservative principle of limiting power and its abuse.

Do you have a problem with that Mr. Pence?

And the timing, just from a political perspective, was dumb. President Trump endorsed candidates basically are winning across the board. In Arizona, it was a sweep.

The raid has boosted Trump’s popularity. Moreover, we just got whistle-blower documents indicating Department of Homeland Security views anyone who questions election integrity or doesn’t like racism (CRT) being taught in schools, as “domestic terrorists.”

This is not only an insult to conservative Americans – it is flat-out dangerous.

Pence decided the political timing was just right to do something truly stupid. Mild-mannered classics and history professor Victor David Hansen spoke for many conservatives when he suggested the FBI has turned into a rogue agency and needs to be broken up.  Pence seems not only to have reversed course on his original comments, but he also seems not to know that the overwhelming body of conservatives, even non-Trump supporters, view the FBI as abusive.

The FBI should make it very clear it does not support the idea that those who disagree with Biden’s policies are white supremacists and terrorists.  This is especially from an agency that was mostly silent when over 700 riots swept the country under the aegis of Black Lives Matter.

In short, conservatives have valid reasons for suspecting that federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI, are being politicized.  They want it to stop.

Conservatives don’t want a third party.  They want to prosper within the Republican Party. Establishment Republicans are going to have to live with the MAGA agenda, and Mr. Pence should know that. He could be the bridge between those two camps unless he decides to detonate the bridge he himself is standing on.

Further, as a conservative, he must know that the abuse of power by federal law enforcement must be guarded against and that these agencies must not become political.

No one is suggesting violence against law enforcement agencies. We are asking that they be reformed and held to account for their misdeeds.

Mr. Pence, are you listening?