Time: Tue Jul 15 11:05:12 1997 by primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with ESMTP id JAA22843 for [address in tool bar]; Tue, 15 Jul 1997 09:54:24 -0700 (MST) by usr05.primenet.com (8.8.5/8.8.5) with SMTP id JAA24174; Tue, 15 Jul 1997 09:51:34 -0700 (MST) Date: Tue, 15 Jul 1997 09:51:11 -0700 To: (Recipient list suppressed) From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: Can we trust the FBI? (fwd) <snip> > >What blows my mind is that this came from READERS DIGEST! Not exactly a >foaming at the mouth anti-government publication that critics would say >something like this would appear .... > >---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > Can We Trust the FBI? > > As scandals mount, more and more > Americans want to know > > by Brock Brower > > > Three days after he found a deadly bomb in > Atlanta's Centennial Olympic Park in July 1996, > Richard Jewell was invited by the local FBI bureau > to take part in a "training video." Agents told him > they wanted to show how he was able to detect the > bomb. Would he help? Jewell agreed, cooperating > fully as they questioned him about the bomb. Then > they asked him to waive his Miranda rights. > Shocked, Jewell realized the "training video" was a > ruse: they thought he was the bomber. > > Soon headlines were naming Jewell the suspect. > For most of the next 88 days, despite finding no > evidence of his guilt, the FBI tailed him > around-the-clock with a three-car surveillance team. > Only after his lawyer publicized the lack of evidence > did the Bureau finally acknowledge that Jewell had > been cleared of suspicion in the case. > > The Jewell harassment reflected badly on > the nation's premier law-enforcement > agency--in a period when it was already > under a cloud. The FBI's chief counsel was involved > in questionable dealings with the White House. > Long-simmering problems at the FBI Laboratory > were boiling over, raising doubts about the evidence > in important cases. And a scandal dubbed Filegate > had erupted as hundreds of secret FBI files, many > on prominent Republicans, were found to have been > sent to the White House. > > Can the FBI be trusted? That's a question most > Americans would once have regarded as > unthinkable. But the controversies have taken their > toll on the Bureau's credibility. "We lost some > ground," warns former FBI director William > Webster, who singles out Filegate. "The public > doesn't like to think that politicians have easy > access to their FBI files." > > A Sauna and Six Big Macs. The problems at the > FBI are not what anybody expected from the man > President Clinton called "a law-enforcement > legend." That was in 1993, when Clinton appointed > Louis Freeh as FBI director, replacing William > Sessions, who had been fired by the President after > a controversy concerning the misuse of perks. > "With Louie," says Oliver "Buck" Revell, a past > associate deputy director, "we thought we had > things fixed." > > Freeh was not only a respected federal judge and > former prosecutor but also one of the Bureau's own. > He had joined the FBI in 1975 straight out of > Rutgers Law School. > > During his early days as director, Freeh made a > demand for right conduct. "We have been too > tolerant of certain types of behavior," he said, > calling on agents to uphold "core values such as > integrity, reliability and trustworthiness." > > Freeh also sent 600 agents with desk jobs back to > the streets. That's where he had made his own > reputation. > > As a rookie agent, Freeh went undercover and > joined a Brooklyn health club where "Big Mike" > Clemente, a mob capo, did business in the sauna > to avoid wiretaps. Clemente took a shine to the > "out-of-work lawyer" he knew as Luigi Rossi and let > him see fat envelopes change hands. They held > marked bills--solid, if damp, evidence of payoffs. At > his arraignment, Clemente still didn't know Freeh > was an agent. Spotting "Luigi" in the room, he sent > his lawyer to the prosecutors with a message: > "Leave the kid alone. He had nothing to do with it." > > Soon afterward Freeh succeeded in bugging the > office of mobster William "Sonny" Montella by > befriending his four vicious guard dogs; he fed them > six Big Macs every night. Faced with incriminating > tapes, Montella agreed to wear a wire that resulted > in the successful prosecution of Tony Scotto, a > leader of the Gambino crime family. > > In 1981 Freeh moved up to prosecuting cases. > Hired by crime-busting U.S. Attorney Rudolph > Giuliani of the southern district in New York City, he > put together the biggest Mafia drug case ever. "The > Pizza Connection" involved a string of pizzerias > used as drug drops by a ring headquartered in > Sicily. Of 18 defendants, 16 were convicted on drug > charges. (Another was murdered by his partner.) > > Then came the Nail Bomber Case. In December > 1989 nail bombs wrapped as Christmas gifts killed > a federal judge and a civil-rights lawyer. The FBI > suspected Walter Leroy Moody, a loner previously > convicted on federal bomb charges. After the > suspect's arrest, Freeh convinced the court to let > him bug Moody talking to himself in his cell. The > man's taped admission to mailing the bombs > earned him seven life sentences plus 400 years. > > Helping Freeh win the case were FBI Special Agent > in Charge (SAC) Larry Potts and a new assistant > U.S. attorney named Howard Shapiro. Two years > later, as SWLs--colleagues who have "Served With > Louis"--they would help Freeh take over leadership > at the Bureau. > > Blind Spots. That original headquarters team of > SWLs, critics charge, split Freeh from the rest of > the FBI and led to many of Freeh's subsequent > problems. > > The first involved Potts. Freeh made him acting > deputy director, even though Potts had yet to be > cleared of responsibility for the 1990 deaths of an > unarmed woman and her son, shot by an FBI sniper > in Ruby Ridge, Idaho. > > After reviewing the case, Freeh removed the > on-scene commander, Eugene Glenn, from his FBI > post, but only reprimanded Potts. Glenn fought > back, claiming that a missing post-incident analysis > would prove the Ruby Ridge standoff with tax > resisters was run by Potts's people at > headquarters. > > It turned out that document had been shredded by a > Potts assistant. Freeh had to suspend Potts, > confessing "a blind spot" toward his deputy. "He > was my friend," Freeh candidly told Congress. "He > still is." Potts is among five agents still under > Justice Department investigation for mishandling the > incident. > > The "blind spot" defense has raised concerns out in > the field. Freeh suspended Jim Fox, SAC in New > York City, two weeks before his retirement for > talking on TV about an FBI informant. Freeh then > suspended SAC Jim Ahern in Phoenix just as > abruptly for making remarks about Janet Reno. Yet > Freeh would fire Potts only after long agonizing and > under pressure. As former FBI director Webster > cautions, "You can't have any appearance of a > double standard." > > Still, Congressional critics gave Freeh the benefit of > the doubt, since Ruby Ridge had occurred before > his watch. Many were impressed with his > achievements on the job, including the capture of > Unabomber suspect Ted Kaczynski and the > peaceful resolution of the standoff at a Montana > ranch, where 60 "Freemen," including women and > children, had threatened another Waco. > > Questions of Conduct. Then came the explosion > that took two lives in Atlanta's Centennial Olympic > Park--and Richard Jewell's peculiar interrogation. > "To do it the way we are told it was done just blows > my mind," a veteran agent told Reader's Digest. > Throughout Jewell's "interview," the agents were on > an open phone line to FBI headquarters. And later > that month, when agents searched his mother's > home, Jewell says he heard them talking on the > phone to a "Louis." Freeh denies he was in contact > with the agents. > > More Bureau embarrassment was to come. > Last summer Congressional investigators > discovered that someone in the FBI had > sent the White House hundreds of sensitive > personnel files, primarily on former Republican staff > members. They contained information protected by > the Privacy Act, and they were handled at the > White House by two low-level political operatives, > Craig Livingstone and Anthony Marceca. In the > subsequent Congressional investigation, Marceca > pleaded the Fifth Amendment, then dropped out of > sight. > > Freeh took the blame for "egregious violations of > privacy." But while Freeh's personal integrity was > not questioned, new revelations lessened his > support in Congress. > > Freeh's old friend, FBI chief counsel Howard > Shapiro, had given a heads-up to the White House > of an FBI report linking First Lady Hillary Clinton to > Filegate figure Livingstone. In the report, then-White > House Counsel Bernard Nussbaum was quoted as > saying that Livingstone came "highly recommended > by Hillary Clinton." > > Nussbaum denied saying this to the FBI. Shapiro > sent agents to question the FBI agent, Dennis > Sculimbrene, who had interviewed Nussbaum. > "They would have liked to have had me say I made > it up," remembers Sculimbrene, who had been > doing background checks for the FBI at the White > House and Congress for 16 years. "They asked me > so many times it became embarrassing." > Sculimbrene stood by his report. That same day, > other agents searched Sculimbrene's office. > > Comments former CIA head James Woolsey, "It's > one thing to try to intimidate a member of the Cali > cartel. It's another to try to intimidate one of your > own agents." > > Meanwhile, Gary Aldrich, for five years an FBI agent > at the White House, published Unlimited Access, > alleging security breaches by White House staffers. > The White House immediately launched a media > counterattack. They had been alerted to Aldrich's > charges by Shapiro, who delivered a copy of the > manuscript to the White House counsel's office > while the FBI was still vetting the book. > > A Justice Department investigation found that > Shapiro had used "very poor judgment." He > resigned last June without any discipline having > been imposed. > > Trouble at the Lab. Another blow to trust came > when FBI chemist Frederic Whitehurst alleged > gross deficiencies at the FBI Lab, which analyzes > evidence for police departments nationwide--some > 600,000 pieces of evidence a year. A subsequent > probe revealed evidentiary problems in at least 50 > cases, including the Oklahoma City bombing. > > Shapiro wrote Whitehurst in 1994 that the Bureau > would "fully investigate" his charges. But when > Freeh removed three officials responsible for errors > at the lab, he also suspended whistle-blower > Whitehurst. > > Freeh is fierce in asserting his > independence, even refusing an > Administration request for intelligence that > he concluded would compromise the FBI's > investigation into campaign finances. He maintains > his fidelity to civil liberties, emphasizing in an > interview that "if we can't perform our functions > according to the Constitution and the law, we'd be > better without a police agency." > > Nevertheless, morale throughout the Bureau has > fallen. Last summer dozens of supervisors with vital > field experience chose to retire--many because, as > one agent claimed, Freeh "is surrounding himself > with people who aren't agents." > > That charge is seconded by former associate > deputy director Revell. "Freeh has put people in > places of authority who have no management, > leadership or investigative experience," he says. > > "Thousands of good, decent men and > women serve their country as FBI > employees," says Sen. Charles Grassley > (R., Iowa), chairman of the Senate Subcommittee > on Administrative Oversight and the Courts, which > oversees the Bureau. "Those agents, along with the > American people, deserve leaders who have > integrity and credibility. Today, the FBI is buried > under a mountain of evidence showing that it cannot > police itself." > <snip> ======================================================================== Paul Andrew Mitchell : Counselor at Law, federal witness B.A., Political Science, UCLA; M.S., Public Administration, U.C. Irvine tel: (520) 320-1514: machine; fax: (520) 320-1256: 24-hour/day-night email: [address in tool bar] : using Eudora Pro 3.0.3 on 586 CPU website: http://www.supremelaw.com : visit the Supreme Law Library now ship to: c/o 2509 N. Campbell, #1776 : this is free speech, at its best Tucson, Arizona state : state zone, not the federal zone Postal Zone 85719/tdc : USPS delays first class w/o this As agents of the Most High, we came here to establish justice. We shall not leave, until our mission is accomplished and justice reigns eternal. ======================================================================== [This text formatted on-screen in Courier 11, non-proportional spacing.]
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