Crooks run wild
FBI: Shutdown cripples investigations, endangers lives
Federal terror investigations are being irreparably harmed, informants in drug cases compromised and lives put at stake as the government shutdown grinds on, according to a group of frustrated FBI special agents.
One agent working counterintelligence and counterterrorism cases described just how hard it is to maintain a relationship with an informant without funds in a report issued Tuesday by the FBI Agents Association.
“We cannot secure safe places to meet with our informants and we cannot pay them for their information,” the agent wrote. “In most cases, this means not being able to make regular meetings and missing out on information altogether, leaving a concerning gap in intel relating to national security.”
An anonymous undercover agent from the Southeast lamented how the shutdown is hobbling work, writing: “On the child exploitation side, as an (undercover employee), I have had to put pervs on standby ... this just puts children in jeopardy.”
The report, dubbed “Voices from the Field,” centers on dozens of troublesome accounts. The federal agents airing their grievances have not received a paycheck in a month as President Trump continues to refuse to sign any spending measure that doesn’t include funds for a border wall with Mexico.
Agents, some of whom are relying on food banks to feed their families, detail how the shutdown is upending their lives, interfering with investigations related to sex trafficking, drug and gang crimes, as well as counter-intelligence and terrorism operations in the 72-page document.
“We don’t have funds for operations,” a Western region agent notes. “We ... are unable to do undercover or (Confidential Human Source) operations that require using government funds to purchase narcotics or firearms from gang members, which ... we use to get drugs and guns off the streets and to prosecute the violent gang and drug traffickers.”
Another said the shutdown has hampered investigations focusing on financial firms because the U.S. attorney’s office is unable to issue grand jury subpoenas for financial institutions.”
The group represents about 13,000 special agents, the majority of whom have been working without pay since Dec. 22. The FBI’s roughly 35,000 workers, including special agents, are set to miss their second paycheck of the closure Friday.
About 800,000 federal workers have been affected by the shutdown, which has cut off funds to roughly a quarter of the government.
“It is truly sad that we must resort to this because we are being let down by our elected officials,” said Thomas O’Connor, president of the FBI Agents Association.
An agent identified as a Joint Terrorism Task Force coordinator said the inability to pay sources has hobbled counterterrorism probes.
“We have lost several sources who’ve worked for months, and years, to penetrate groups and target subjects; these assets cannot be replaced,” the agent wrote. “Serving my country has always been a privilege, but it has never been so hard.”
Jack Owens, an ex-counterintelligence FBI agent who was based in Birmingham, Ala., for 30 years until his retirement in 1999, told the Daily News he has spoken to agents at his former office about their situation.
“It’s pinching the bureau’s resources and they’re scrambling to move operations off the burner that should be there. It’s not good for national security or the safety of the American people.”
Some of the agents Owens spoke with support Trump’s border wall plan, but none think the government should remain closed while Congress and the administration discuss the matter.
“They don’t agree with the shutdown,” Owens said. “They think people should come back and get paid and then they can work out the politics.”