FBI says agent impersonated AP reporter
FBI says agent impersonated AP reporter
By CHRIS GRYGIEL
Nov. 7, 2014 5:14
AM EST
SEATTLE (AP) — FBI Director James Comey says an agent
impersonated an Associated Press reporter during a 2007 criminal investigation,
a ruse the news organization says could undermine its credibility.
In a letter Thursday to The New York Times, Comey said
the agent "portrayed himself as an employee of The Associated Press"
to help catch a 15-year-old suspect accused of making bomb threats at a high
school near Olympia, Washington. It was publicized last week that the FBI
forged an AP story during its investigation, but Comey's letter revealed the
agency went further and had an agent actually pretend to be a reporter for the
wire service.
Comey said the agent posing as an AP reporter asked the
suspect to review a fake AP article about threats and cyberattacks directed at
the school, "to be sure that the anonymous suspect was portrayed
fairly."
The bogus article contained a software tool that could
verify Internet addresses. The suspect clicked on a link, revealing his
computer's location and Internet address, which helped agents confirm his
identity.
"That technique was proper and appropriate under Justice
Department and FBI guidelines at the time. Today, the use of such an unusual
technique would probably require higher-level approvals than in 2007, but it
would still be lawful and, in a rare case, appropriate," Comey wrote.
Kathleen Carroll, executive editor of the AP, said the
FBI's actions were "unacceptable."
"This latest revelation of how the FBI
misappropriated the trusted name of The Associated Press doubles our concern
and outrage, expressed earlier to Attorney General Eric Holder, about how the
agency's unacceptable tactics undermine AP and the vital distinction between
the government and the press," Carroll said in a statement.
In a letter to the Justice Department last week, the AP
requested Holder's word that the DOJ would never again misrepresent itself as
the AP and asked for policies to ensure the DOJ does not further impersonate
news organizations.
In a letter Thursday to Comey and Holder, the Reporters
Committee for Freedom of the Press asked the agency for full disclosure about
the incident.
"The utilization of news media as a cover for
delivery of electronic surveillance software is unacceptable," the letter
said. "This practice endangers the media's credibility and creates the
appearance that it is not independent of the government. It undermines media
organizations' ability to independently report on law enforcement."
In his letter to The New York Times, Comey said all
undercover operations involve deception, "which has long been a critical
tool in fighting crime."
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