FBI Records: ‘Argument Can Be Made’ That Agents Violated Policy with Bogus News Article

AP LogoBy Steve Neavling
ticklethewire.com

When the FBI created a bogus Associated Press news story to capture a man who was making bomb threats to a school in suburban Washington, agents said they were doing nothing wrong.

But documents obtained through a public records lawsuit show the FBI had some misgivings about posting a bogus news story, the Associated Press reports. 

An internal FBI report said “an argument can be made” that agents violated protocol by failing to inform senior brass in Washington about the 2007 operation.

The records suggest that the FBI’s headquarters should have reviewed and given approval for such an undercover operation.

Nevertheless, the FBI’s Cyber Division said the bureau acted reasonably “under the circumstances.”

“Although an argument can be made the reported impersonation of a fictitious member of the media constituted a ‘sensitive circumstance’ that would have made the undercover activity subject to FBI HQ review and approval required for a Group 1 undercover operation, the facts of the case do not clearly indicate that such a sensitive circumstance existed,” the report says.

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