By Thomas Gaist
In
a letter delivered to the New
York Times Thursday, FBI director James Comey defended a 2007 sting
operation in which agents fabricated an Associated Press news story and the
impersonation of an AP reporter by an FBI agent.
Supposedly
in an effort to locate the caller behind a series of bomb threats, FBI agents
sent a link to a forged AP story to 15-year-old Josh Glazebrook of Olympia,
Washington, and subsequently pretended to be an AP reporter to encourage
Glazebrook to read the link and give feedback to the leading news outlet about
whether the article portrayed the suspect “fairly.”
Glazebrook
followed the link, which was embedded with a malware program known as a
Computer and Internet Protocol Address Verified (CIPAV), thus allowing the FBI
to determine the precise location of his computer.
Written
in response to widespread criticisms of the FBI’s media impersonation tactic, “To
Catch a Crook, The FBI’s Use of Deception,” Comey’s letter to the editorial
board of the New York
Times, staunchly defends the 2007 operation and the use of
“deception” in general as an investigative tactic.
“We
do use deception at times to catch crooks, but we are acting responsibly and
legally,” Comey wrote.
Deception,
Comey wrote, “has long been a critical tool in fighting crime.”
“That
technique was proper and appropriate under Justice Department and FBI
guidelines at the time. Today, the use of such an unusual technique would
probably require higher-level approvals than in 2007, but it would still be
lawful and, in a rare case, appropriate,” Comey wrote.
“Every
undercover operation involves ‘deception,’ which has long been a critical tool
in fighting crime,” the FBI director concluded.
According
to Comey’s letter, FBI psychological analysts determined that the teenage
Glazebrook was a “narcissist,” and so decided that sending him a forged news
story about his own alleged illegal activities would be effective.
Despite
Comey’s reassurances, leading voices from the media establishment have harshly
criticized the FBI tactic.
“This
latest revelation of how the FBI misappropriated the trusted name of the
Associated Press doubles our concern and outrage, expressed earlier to Attorney
General Eric Holder,” AP editor Kathleen Carroll wrote, referring to the Obama
DOJ’s secret seizure the AP’s telephone records in May 2013, a move intended to
produce a “chilling effect” on investigative journalism by silencing critical
journalists and intimidating their sources into silence.
“The
agency’s unacceptable tactics undermine AP and the vital distinction between
the government and the press,” Carroll wrote.
In
a letter addressed to Comey and Attorney General Eric Holder, and co-signed by
25 news organizations, the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press (RCFP)
condemned the FBI impersonation tactic as “unacceptable.” The RCFP wrote that
media impersonation posed a threat to the First Amendment and blurred the distinction
between the media and the state.
“The
utilization of news media as a cover for delivery of electronic surveillance
software is unacceptable. This practice endangers the media’s credibility and
creates the appearance that it is not independent of the government,” the RCFP
wrote.
The
RCFP noted that the warrant request submitted by the FBI in relation to the
tactic made no mention of the bureau’s plans to create a forged news article
and impersonate media personnel, despite the fact that Justice Department
regulations include a “complex set of approval and review requirements” to be
met before any impersonation of media can be carried out, due to the threat
posed by such operations to the First Amendment.
The
FBI “seemingly failed to follow any of these procedures in the Associated
Press/Seattle Times incident,” the RCFP wrote.
Given
the ongoing DOJ efforts to modify warranting requirements for electronic
searches by the FBI, such flagrant disregard for well-established legal and
democratic principles is doubly alarming, the RCFP letter said.
“This
issue raises special concerns in light of pending proposed changes to Rule 41
of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure. The proposed changes specifically
address, among other things, the authority of magistrate judges to authorize
the use of ‘remote access’ to electronic storage,” the RCFP wrote.
The
RCFP demanded that the FBI release “full records of this case,” and implied
that the bureau has tailored its official statements on the matter to conceal
key facts about the case.
“FBI’s
statements in this case have been inconsistent with the records released in
response to the Freedom of Information Act,” the RCFP wrote.
The
RCFP has submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests seeking release
of further documents relating to FBI impersonation of media, the letter notes.
The
drive of the US ruling elite to dismantle core provisions of the US Bill of
Rights is clearing the way for increasingly aggressive sting operations by DOJ,
FBI and other US government “law enforcement” agencies. Last month, reports
surfaced of an FBI sting operation in July that disabled Internet service to
portions of the Caesar’s Palace Hotel on the Las Vegas Strip to enable agents
to infiltrate the hotel while posing as repairmen.
Also
last month, reports surfaced that the DEA lifted photos from a suspect’s phone
and used them to create a fake Facebook profile, which agents then used to
communicate with alleged members of a “New York drug ring.”
Source: http://www.wsws.org
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