USA - The FBI: A History of State Sanctioned Corruption & Retribution

[Woodman]

How does YOUR governments highest law enforcement institution work for YOU?

There was a lot of spin going around when an FBI sniper shot a woman holding a baby in her arms at Ruby Ridge, and it was easy to characterize her as part of a "white supremacist" movement; a NUT!

...and when the Branch Davidians were burned alive at Waco, it was just as easy to disregard if only because they were a bunch of religious/cultist nuts.

But since those events there have been others, and the FBI now has a well-established track record of institutionalized corruption and mismanagement in an atmosphere that punishes anyone who speaks out against it.

This is how the American FBI REALLY works:

1.) http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,54070,00.html

Whistleblower Complains of FBI Obstruction
Thursday, May 30, 2002
By Ian Christopher McCaleb

WASHINGTON*—* A government watchdog and FBI counter-terrorism agent are accusing the agency of prohibiting him from conducting his probe into terror financing activities because he complained about obstruction by bureau superiors.

Chicago-based FBI Special Agent Robert Wright, who worked in counterterrorism from 1993-1999, said the recent trajectory of his FBI career has taken a downward spiral since he complained about two incidents that inhibited his ability to continue terror funding and money laundering probes of members of Islamic terrorist groups Hamas and Hezbollah.

Wright, who is filing a complaint through his counsel Judicial Watch, said in documents that the FBI would not provide him decent computer equipment, a problem that has been acknowledged by the FBI as being a bureau-wide problem.

He also said that he was prevented from pursuing*an investigation after an unnamed Muslim special agent refused to wear a wire during a probe because, as the Muslim agent allegedly said, "Muslims don't record other Muslims."

The complaint comes the same week that the attorney general and FBI director announced a series of changes at the Federal Bureau of Investigation aimed at beefing up the bureau's ability to move from a law enforcement agency to a domestic intelligence agency whose primary goal is to prevent terrorism. The Justice Department also unveiled a series of draft guidelines that will encourage aggressive pre-emptive investigative techniques and analysis by field agents, a dramatic change from the practice of investigating and prosecuting crimes after they have been committed.

"We have to do a better job at collaborating with others," FBI Director Robert Mueller said in his Wednesday announcement. "And as critically important, we have to do a better job managing, analyzing and sharing information. In essence, we need a different approach that puts prevention above all else."

The FBI has been under fire since it was revealed that FBI field alerts to Washington of Middle Eastern men training at U.S. flight schools during the summer of 2001 were buried in paperwork, and agents in Minneapolis who circumvented normal channels to contact the CIA about suspected "20th hijacker" Zacarias Moussaoui were reprimanded.

During his announcement Wednesday, Mueller thanked Coleen Rowley, the Minneapolis agent who wrote Mueller to describe the congestion at headquarters that was hindering the investigation into Moussaoui. Judicial Watch Chairman Larry Klayman, who is filing Wright's petition to get permission to publish a transcript on FBI mismanagement, called Mueller's recognition of Rowley "a cover your derriere, PR maneuver."

Agents who have complained about bureaucratic barriers in the past have been punished, and Wright said that he is one of them. Klayman said Wright has been demoted to "paper pusher" and "chief dishwasher" at the Chicago field office since he complained about the wrenches thrown into his probe.

Klayman blamed Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division Michael Chertoff for refusing to consider Wright's concerns prior to Sept. 11.

Wright has written a manuscript entitled "Fatal Betrayals of the Intelligence Mission," which he says exposes the FBI's inabilities to conduct anti-terror intelligence operations. The manuscript also provides guidelines for how Wright believes the entire FBI needs to be restructured. He is seeking permission from the FBI to publish the manuscript, but Klayman suggested that could be a long wait, especially since Wright is under threat of retribution should he talk to members of Congress about what he knows.

Wright said throughout his six-year posting in counter-terrorism, he was involved in probes of Hamas and Hezbollah. His most successful 'get' netted $1.4 million in terrorist money in 1998, money that he said today was linked to Saudi businessman and financier Yassin Kadi, who was identified late last year as a close associate of Usama Bin Laden.



2.) http://citypages.com/databank/25/1244/article12538.asp

The Making of a Whistleblower:

WHEN JANE TURNER LEFT THE BUILDING ON HER last day of active duty at the FBI--November 21, 2002--several of her colleagues turned out for the occasion.

...For more than four years, Turner had waged a quiet and increasingly isolated battle to address what she saw as troubles at the FBI, ranging from job discrimination toward female agents to malfeasance in the handling of numerous cases. She had taken her complaints, and the corresponding evidence, up the chain of command all the way to then-Director Louis Freeh's office. In response, claims Turner, the Bureau waged a campaign to undermine her reputation, suppress evidence of its own wrongdoing, and drive her out.
When Turner was escorted to the parking garage on that last day to remove any personal items from her Bureau car, the last step prior to her being turned out on the street, she found a number of co-workers milling around the area, apparently tipped to the chance to see Jane Turner get hers at last. ...

[CLICK THE LINK ABOVE TO GET THE ENTIRE STORY]



3.) http://www.aclu.org/safefree/general...s20050126.html

Sibel Edmonds: A Patriot Silenced, Unjustly Fired but Fighting Back to Help Keep America Safe (1/26/2005)

Sibel Edmonds, a 32-year-old Turkish-American, was hired as a translator by the FBI shortly after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 because of her knowledge of Middle Eastern languages. She was fired less than a year later in March 2002 for reporting shoddy work and security breaches to her supervisors that could have prevented those attacks.
Edmonds has been fighting the corruption permeating the FBI since her unfair dismissal and sued to contest her firing in July 2002. On July 6, 2004 , Judge Reggie Walton in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia dismissed Edmonds' case, citing the government's state secrets privilege. The American Civil Liberties Union is representing Edmonds in her appeal of that ruling. Oral arguments in the case are scheduled for April 21, 2005.
The privilege, when properly invoked, permits the government to block the release in litigation of any material that, if disclosed, would cause harm to national security. However, the government has employed the privilege to dismiss Edmonds' entire case in an effort to protect itself from embarrassment. While an FBI translator, Edmonds discovered poorly translated documents relevant to the 9-11 attacks and reported the shoddy work to her supervisors. She also expressed concerns about a co-worker who had previously worked for an organization under FBI surveillance and had a relationship with a foreign intelligence officer also under surveillance. In addition, Edmonds claimed that she was told to work slowly to give the appearance that the agency was overworked so it would receive a larger budget, despite a large backlog of documents that needed translating.
Even though she followed all appropriate procedures for reporting her concerns up the chain of command, Edmonds was retaliated against and fired. After her termination, many of Edmonds' allegations were confirmed by the FBI in unclassified briefings to Congress. More than two years later, in May 2004, the Justice Department retroactively classified Edmonds' briefings, as well as the FBI briefings, and forced Members of Congress who had the information posted on their Web sites to remove the documents.
The Project on Government Oversight (POGO) sued the Justice Department and Attorney General John Ashcroft in June 2004 claiming the retroactive classification of Edmond's testimony was a violation of the First Amendment. That lawsuit is still pending, although Ashcroft and the Justice Department have moved to dismiss the suit.
The remarkable act of retroactive classification exemplifies a dangerous abuse of secrecy by the government regarding Edmonds' case. At least two Senators, Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont), publicly support Edmonds and have pushed the Justice Department to declassify at least some of its investigation into her dismissal.

On January 14, 2004 , the Justice Department's Office unclassified summary of the Justice Department's Inspector General's report on Edmonds found that many of her claims "were supported, that the FBI did not take them seriously enough, and that her allegations were, in fact, the most significant factor in the FBI's decision to terminate her services."



4.) http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/...der_fire_.html

FBI Under Fire; Admits Serious Violations of Law

March 09, 2007 12:10 PM

Justin Rood and Vic Walter Report:

The FBI improperly and, in some cases, illegally used USA Patriot Act powers to obtain information about U.S. citizens and residents, a new Justice Department report concluded.

The report by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine was first reported on the Blotter on ABCNews.com last night.

Fine's office scrutinized the FBI's use of National Security Letters (NSLs) under the Patriot Act, which expanded their powers.

Intended for use in secretive terrorism and espionage cases, the letters allow the FBI to obtain information, such as business records and data on telephone subscribers, without a judge's consent. Moreover, FBI agents at times requested and received information they were not authorized to obtain under the law, Fine's report concluded.

The report released today paints a picture of widespread misuse of NSLs by FBI agents and confusion about how NSLs are to be issued and recorded.* Fine's office found chronic underreporting by agents about how many NSLs they issued, leading to its conclusion that the total number of NSLs reported by the FBI between 2003 and 2005 -- over 143,000 -- may be understated by tens of thousands of letters.

As a result, FBI reports to Congress on its use of the secretive powers were inaccurate, the report said.

"This report proves that 'trust us' doesn't cut it," said Sen. Russ Feingold, D-Wisc., in a written statement released this morning.* Feingold, long an opponent of the FBI's expansive authorities under the Patriot Act, vowed "full and prompt" investigations into the misuses of NSLs and said he would push for reform.

A spokeswoman for Attorney General Alberto Gonzales said last night that Gonzales "has told [FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III] that these past mistakes will not be tolerated and has ordered the FBI and the department to restore accountability and to put in place safeguards to ensure greater oversight and controls over the use of national security letters."

In a written statement, a chastened FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III called some of the report's findings "unacceptable."

At a press conference today, Mueller accepted personal responsibility for the FBI's multiple failures.

5.) http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/6918186.stm

Huge payout for men framed by FBI

A federal judge in Boston has ordered the US government to pay out more than $100m (£50m) in the case of four wrongly convicted men.

The four were convicted in 1965 of the murder of gangster Edward Teddy Deegan. They spent decades in prison after the FBI withheld evidence of their innocence.

Two died in jail.

The two survivors, and the families of the other two, successfully sued the federal government for malicious prosecution.

...They were accused and convicted of killing Deegan in a small alley during a robbery in Boston.
Mr Limone and Mr Salvati were then exonerated in 2001, after FBI memos dating back to the murder surfaced showing the men had been framed.

In this latest case, lawyers for Mr Salvati, Mr Limone and the families of the two others argued that Boston FBI agents knew that mob hitman Joseph Barboza had lied when he named the four as Deegan's killers. Mr Barboza, they said, was trying to protect a fellow FBI informant, Vincent Flemmi, who was involved in the Deegan murder.

[CLICK THE LINK ABOVE FOR THE WHOLE STORY]

...to which the FBI responded:

http://www.reason.com/blog/printer/121692.html