FBI Hounds Whistleblower Into Early Retirement

An FBI Inspector General's internal report says that the Bureau used poor tradecraft, doctored records, and harassed a whistleblower in a 2002 "terrorism" case. The whistleblower, an FBI agent, ended up quitting in 2004 after suffering for exposing wrongdoing in the Tampa, Florida case.

The IG report, a draft copy of which was obtained by Government Executive magazine, details allegations by then-FBI agent Michael German and the subsequent retaliation against him by his supervisors.

The malfeasance in this case looks indicative of wider problems Bureau-wide. German is quoted as writing in response to the report:

"These are important findings that demonstrate a dangerous lack of internal controls within the FBI that calls the integrity of every FBI investigation into question," he wrote. "The administration, Congress and the American public should be gravely concerned about these findings under the current national security threat situation."

German first attempted to get the FBI's Office of Professional Responsibility to do their job and investigate his charges of official wrongdoing, but they declined. Among German's charges were the changing of dates in official FBI reports on the case. One would think that something as potentially cut and dried as that would be grist for the investigative mill. Not in this case. Falsifying documents as a law-enforcement tool must be too valuable a tool for the feds to consider proscribing.

I detect a lawsuit against the government coming.