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Notes -
You're assuming that there has been a shift.
Allow me to present an alternate theory. The FBI is and always has been the Democratic party establishment's dirty tricks squad. Back in the 40s 50s and 60s assorted flavors of leftwing backed radicals backed by foreign (IE Soviet) interests were an embarrassment to mainstream Democrats like FDR and LBJ making them vulnerable to accusations of "colluding with the enemy" so the FBI was tasked with keeping a lid on them. The Reason Nixon had to hire outside contractors to spy on his opponents is that if he'd tried to use the FBI they would've either refused to obey, blown the whistle, or both because Nixon was not a Democrat and Nixon was smart enough to know this. The FBI is woke today because the democratic party is woke.
The public perception of the FBI as competent professionals rather than a bunch of trigger happy idiots and cross-dressing political hitmen is a relatively recent phenomenon, the product of a major public relations push in the mid to late 90s that conveniently overlapped with Bill Clinton and Janet Reno's attempts to greatly expand the powers and charters of various three letter agencies. Just look at how federal agents are portrayed in movies from the 70s and 80s vs the 90s and early 00s, the difference is both striking and kind of hilarious.
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