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You're missing a few important points (and saying "well duh" which makes you sound like an idiot): one -- the FBI was already investigating communist espionage. McCarthy's efforts were counterproductive. And two, by putting on a dog and pony show, McCarthy ruined the lives of hundreds of innocent people.
But the FBI couldn't really do anything about it, because the only direct evidence was the decoded cables. The problem there was, by using the evidence, the Soviets would know we cracked the cables, and thus would change their encoding. This is why they encouraged McCarthy to investigate.