Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Did the FBI try to turn a defense team security officer into a secret informant? The question, which was raised by defense lawyers at the first 9/11 hearing of the year Monday, was enough to prompt a judge to abruptly recess the case, the Miami Herald reports. Defense lawyers argued that the…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com The Rev. Al Sharpton, a civil rights activist and former presidential candidate, began working as a confidential FBI informant in the 1980s after he was caught on tape discussing cocaine deals with a drug kingpin, the New York Post reports. Sharpton cooperated with authorities and helped the feds bring down the notorious…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Bad news continues to follow ATF. This time, the federal agency lost 420 million cigarettes, misused $162 million in profits from stings and conducted dozens of unauthorized investigations of illegal tobacco sales, the inspector general said, according to the Associated Press. Investigators were unable to locate 2.1 million cartons because of shoddy…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Federal prosecutors said they will not release the name of the confidential informant involved in the case against mob boss James “Whitey” Bulger, the Boston Herald reports. The defense attorneys maintain the informant helped the FBI determine what others may say during testimony. Prosecutors dismissed the allegations as ” street talk” and…
Steve Neavling ticklethewire.com Reputed Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger is asking a federal judge to force the disclosure of the identity of a confidential informant, the Boston Herald reports. Bulger’s lawyers said the informant can help discredit two witnesses who plan to testify against the aging gangster at the criminal trial, which begins June 13….
