The Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports in an exclusive story today that the FBI is failing to pursue “identity thieves, con artists, hatemongers and other criminals.”
Thousands of white-collar criminals across the country are no longer being prosecuted in federal court -- and, in many cases, not at all -- leaving a trail of frustrated victims and potentially billions of dollars in fraud and theft losses.
This is significant national news from a regional source. Read about it here and here and here and here.
--more below the fold--
It is the untold story of the Bush administration's massive restructuring of the FBI after the terrorism attacks of 9/11.
Five-and-a-half years later, the White House and the Justice Department have failed to replace at least 2,400 agents transferred to counterterrorism squads, leaving far fewer agents on the trail of identity thieves, con artists, hatemongers and other criminals.
Surely a law-and-order Republican administration would seek additional resources to stop the terrorists AND the identity thieves. But as we’ve seen in so many remarkable ways, this is no law-and-order administration—especially when it comes to white-collar crime. Let’s add to GONEzales’ resume the following note.
Two successive attorneys general have rejected the FBI's pleas for reinforcements behind closed doors.
While there hasn't been a terrorism strike on American soil since the realignment, few are aware of the hidden cost: a dramatic plunge in FBI investigations and case referrals in many of the crimes that the bureau has traditionally fought, including sophisticated fraud, embezzlement schemes and civil rights violations.
Of course, we know that the FBI has been busy cranking out illegal national security letters and gathering data on war protest groups, but the scale of federal snooping, legal or not, is simply staggering.
• Overall, the number of criminal cases investigated by the FBI nationally has steadily declined. In 2005, the bureau brought slightly more than 20,000 cases to federal prosecutors, compared with about 31,000 in 2000 -- a 34 percent drop.
• White-collar crime investigations by the bureau have plummeted in recent years. In 2005, the FBI sent prosecutors 3,500 cases -- a fraction of the more than 10,000 cases assigned to agents in 2000.
• Civil rights investigations, which include hate crimes and police abuse, have continued a steady decline since the late 1990s. FBI agents pursued 65 percent fewer cases in 2005 than they did in 2000.
What are US Attorneys to do? There just aren’t very many criminal cases being referred to them anymore. Nor are there really many (if any) credible “terrorism” referrals either. The Bush/Rove/Gonzales answer seems to be: let them investigate massive, out-of-control, Democratic inspired and aided voter fraud.
When it comes to consumer and public protection, the administration’s only remaining policy is “caveat emptor” (let the buyer beware). And if the victim is the federal government itself: what’s a little over-bill[ions]ing and fraud committed by the Halliburtons of the world?
"There's a niche of fraudsters that are floating around unprosecuted," said one recently retired top FBI official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. "They are not going to jail. There is no law enforcement solution in sight."
In most cases, local law enforcement agencies haven't been able to take up the slack.
But is it working? In a sidebar, the P-I reports that “the success of counterterrorism efforts difficult to evaluate.”
Counterterrorism operations across the country are so shrouded in secrecy that the bureau won't even say how many agents are assigned to them.
<snip>
One thing is clear, according to special agents who spoke to the Seattle P-I on condition of anonymity: They are exhaustively tracking leads.
<snip>
Joint Terrorism Task Force squads, comprising investigators from the FBI, other federal agencies and local law enforcement, are the foot soldiers in the war on terrorism's domestic front. While every agent carries a caseload, they are also constantly "shagging down leads" from a variety of sources, including the National Security Agency's controversial wiretap program.
Field agents grumble that FBI headquarters is constantly issuing directives, trumping the street wisdom of local agents. Said one: "We don't have the time to respond to the trends we recognize because we're too busy responding to the trend du jour."
The agent suggested that efforts to prevent another terrorism attack are sometimes excessive, especially when it comes to electronic surveillance.
"A lot of monitoring is going on that is not warranted," the agent said.
The agent’s double entendre about warrant-less surveillance was probably unintended, but who knows, maybe s/he has a finely honed sense of humor.
A tip of the hat to Seattle P-I reporters Paul Shukovsky, Tracy Johnson and especially to Daniel Lathrop who did the months of statistical research behind the story.
Can we please get this issue in front of a Congressional oversight committee?