David LeValley (Linkedin photo)

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

New special agents in charge have been appointed in the FBI’s  Columbia, S.C. and Atlanta offices, the bureau announced this week.

David LeValley, who has been the special agent of  the Criminal Division of the Washington Field Office, has been named head of the Atlanta office. He’ll assume that post in November.

LeValley jointed the FBI in 1996 and was first assigned to the New York Field Office, where he investigated Colombian and Caribbean drug trafficking and money laundering violations on a joint task force with the New York City Police Department, a press release said.

While at FBI Headquarters, LeValley helped establish the FBI’s Mara-Salvatrucha-13 (MS-13) National Gang Task Force.

Alphonso “Jody” Norris, chief of the executive development and selection program in the Human Resources Division at FBI Headquarters, has been named special agent in charge of the Columbia Division. He’ll begin the new job at the end of October.

Norris joined the FBI in 1990 and was first assigned to the Houston Division, where he investigated public corruption, large-scale bank failures, health care fraud, and civil rights matters, a press release said.

Norris has held leadership positions in the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division, Tampa Division, Human Resources Division, and Charlotte Division.

By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com

The DEA has issued a public warning about the dangers of carfentanil, a synthetic opioid it describes as being 10,000 times more potent than morphine and 100 times more potent than fentanyl, which itself is 50 times more potent than heroin.  It  is designed to be used as a tranquilizing agent for elephants and other large mammals.

The agency said law enforcement has recently seen the presence of carfentanil, which has been linked to a number of overdose deaths around the country.

“Carfentanil is surfacing in more and more communities.” said DEA Acting Administrator Chuck Rosenberg in a statement. “We see it on the streets, often disguised as heroin.  It is crazy dangerous.  Synthetics such as fentanyl and carfentanil can kill you.  I hope our first responders – and the public – will read and heed our health and safety warning.  These men and women have remarkably difficult jobs and we need them to be well and healthy.”

Read the entire press release below:

Read more »

Ahmad Khan Rahami

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The father of the key suspect in the bombings in New York and New Jersey said he warned the FBI in 2014 that his son had become radicalized and “bad.”

The father, Mohammad Rahami, said his son, Ahmad Khan Rahami, changed after visiting Afghanistan and Pakistan in 2013, ABC News reports. 

“I found a change in his personality. His mind was not the same. He had become bad and I don’t know what caused it but I informed the FBI about it,” he said.

Saying he didn’t believe the FBI took action against his son, the elder Rahami said he is sickened by what his son’s alleged actions.

“I condemn the act of my son and I am sad over injuries caused to people,” he said, adding that he was cooperating fully with investigators.

The son is an Afghan-born U.S. citizen who has been predominately unconscious and incubated since undergoing surgery.

Actor Brad Pitt, via Wikipedia

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The FBI is investigating allegations that Brad Pitt was verbally and physically abusive with his children on a private jet last week.

The FBI is investigating because the alleged abuse occurred on a flight from France to the U.S.

“The FBI is continuing to gather facts and will evaluate whether an investigation at the federal level will be pursued,” FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller told press in a statement late on Thursday night, Business Insider reports. 

A TMZ report suggested Pitt was drunk during the flight and that his wife Angelina Jolie and their children were on board.

Jolie has filed for divorce, citing “irreconcilable differences.”

By Editorial Board
Daily Camera

The U.S. Justice Department’s inspector general has cleared an FBI agent of wrongdoing for impersonating a journalist and using a fake Associated Press story to track down the 15-year-old who made bomb threats against a high school in the state of Washington nine years ago. The ruling sends a horrible message to agents — “do whatever you want, guys” — and has the potential to promote other ethically challenged behavior at an agency where professionalism should be a top priority.

With its stonewalling on records requests and bullying of reporters over news leaks, the Justice Department under President Barack Obama long ago set a new low for attempting to subvert the journalistic process.

Still, the inspector general’s ruling was a surprise partly because the FBI itself tacitly admitted mishandling the case. In June, it adopted a policy requiring agents to get high-level approval before impersonating a journalist in future investigations. Hopefully, the person reviewing those requests will have more scruples and better judgment than the DOJ inspector general or the FBI rogues who devised the 2007 caper.

Back then, law enforcement officials couldn’t figure out who was making bomb threats to Timberline High School via email. An agent contacted the suspect by email, posing as an AP “staff publisher,” and got him to open a link to a fake AP story about the bomb threats. The fake story was posted on a fake web page that resembled that of the Seattle Times. When the 15-year-old clicked on the link, it infected his computer with tracking software, leading authorities to him.

The FBI’s ruse and the inspector general’s whitewashing of it are damaging to journalism. But the government doesn’t care about that.

To read more click here. 

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

The FBI and local police are investigating former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner after he allegedly sent sexually explicit text messages and suggestive photos to a 15-year-old girl.

Former Congressman Anthony Weiner

The Daily Mail, which broke the story, reports that a subpoena has been issued for Weiner’s cellphone and other electronic records.

The girls said the exchanges occurred for several months and included Weiner urging her to engage in “rape fantasies.” In one message, Weiner allegedly told the teen: “I would bust that tight p***y so hard and so often that you would leak and limp for a week.”

According to the girl and her family, Weiner was aware that she was underage.

In a statement to Daily Mail, Weiner said, “I have repeatedly demonstrated terrible judgement about the people I have communicated with online and the things I have sent. I am filled with regret and heartbroken for those I have hurt.”

“I have repeatedly demonstrated terrible judgement about the people I have communicated with online and the things I have sent.

“I am filled with regret and heartbroken for those I have hurt.”

U.S. Rep. Michael McCaul

By Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

As domestic terrorism cases continue to rise, the U.S. must take on extremism on the Internet, Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul, R-Texas, said Tuesday.

McCaul said terrorism is spreading because of the Internet, creating a “global jihadist movement,” The Dallas Morning News reports. 

“Now we have a new generation of terrorists that are very savvy on the internet. They know how to exploit it, both how to recruit and train, and to radicalize from within,” he said, later adding: “Through the power of the internet, you don’t have to travel to Syria. You can get radicalized here.”
McCaul is calling for a nonpartisan proposal that will be pitched to the presidential candidates.

McCaul was speaking at the American Enterprise Institute.