Post by dorothykeeler on Jan 22, 2019 17:41:01 GMT -7
Donald Trump claims he simply had to shutdown the U.S. government over $5 billion of border wall funding, all in the name of national security. Never mind that border security experts have said the wall is ineffectual and high-tech monitoring is far more effective: Donald Trump and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have shut down the federal government and put the financial security of millions of Americans at risk. Among those federal workers taking an enormous hit and required to work without pay are the agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
In a detailed report released today, the FBI Agents Association says quite frankly that the national security of the United States is at risk every minute this shutdown drags on. In the words of FBI agents, here are some of the ways our national security is increasingly at risk. From background checks, counter-terrorism operations, child sexual assault investigations, to cybersecurity operations, no area is spared.
Each of the boxes below are quotes from FBI agents in different field offices around the world.
From counter-terrorism operations:
“As a Joint Terrorism Task Force Coordinator, the inability to pay Confidential Human Sources has had a detrimental effect on our counter-terrorism investigations and operations. We have lost several sources who have worked for months, and years, to penetrate groups and target subjects. These assets cannot be replaced.… Serving my country has always been a privilege, but it has never been so hard or thankless.” — Western Region
To worldwide national security operations:
“The Bureau is unable to fulfill confidential service or expense payments to our national security Confidential Human Sources that provide real-time perishable information for the Intelligence Community and our senior policy makers, Cabinet level officials, Presidential advisors, and the Office of the President." — Central Region
Our enemies are running amok.
“The shutdown has eliminated any ability to operate.…It’s bad enough to work without pay, but we can only conduct administrative functions while doing it.The fear is our enemies know they can run freely.” — Western Region
Our foreign relationships are crumbling.
“Because of lack of funding, I am unable to travel to the countries in my [area of responsibility]. This means investigations are stalling, information sharing is diminished, and relationships with foreign partners are weakening. Some significant operational examples are:
1) A crimes against children investigation is stalled because the forensic interviewer is unable to travel here to interview potential victim children and we are unable to ship evidence back to the case agents because pouch shipments have been postponed.
2) request for assistance in a FCPA related investigation cannot proceed because the [other government agency involved] is 95% furloughed.
3) [W]e will potentially not be able to travel to gather time sensitive intel related to [counter-terrorism] threats to the U.S.” — Legat
Ongoing investigations are slowing dramatically.
“I am already starting to see a negative impact of the shutdown on the pace of our operations and investigations. Particularly, the United States Attorney's Office is unable to issue grand jury subpoenas for financial institutions…. Most of our[counter-terrorism] cases have a strong financial angle and our inability to fully utilize all available investigative tools slows down the pace of the investigation in critical [counter-terrorism] matters.” — Central Region
Murders and horrendous acts against children are not being investigated.
“In Indian Country, agents work some of the most violent crimes and at a very high case load. The violations worked are primarily violent homicides and crimes against children, with child sexual assaults likely being 70-80% of the case load.…
FBI offices…are having investigations stalled, to include delayed forensic interviews of child victims and delaying grand jury indictments on homicides and child sexual assault prosecutions. Our child victims deserve timely interviews to increase successful preservation of their testimony. The cases are being delayed for grand jury because we can't get medical records from certain Indian Hospitals with attorneys who are furloughed. Additionally, cases are being delayed for grand jury because investigators can't obtain land status information,[which is necessary for jurisdiction]. The impact is we aren't able to take cases to grand jury to seek indictments/warrants in order to get our most violent offenders arrested and justice for our victims.” — Western Region
Narcotics and gang investigations are coming to a halt.
“We don't have funds for operations. 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 is a method we use to get drugs and guns off the streets and to prosecute the violent gang and drug traffickers. We don't have funds to purchase necessary equipment for our operations.... We are relying on borrowing money from state and local partners for operations, although in very small amounts since their budgets are note quipped for large scale gang and drug operations. Additionally we are impacting our liaison partners and relationships as we are unable to pay our dedicated state and local officers who assist our investigations on overtime hours above and beyond their regular shifts, which many times includes late nights and weekends.” — Western Region
New agents can’t be on-boarded. Current agents’ credit ratings are being put at risk. Trainings have halted. Investigations have slowed or stopped all together. International counter-terrorism investigations are crumbling and critical informants are turning away after not being paid.
There is no doubt this shutdown is putting America at great risk, from coast to coast and around the world. Take a minute to grab your phone and call your member of Congress, particularly your senator, and demand they pressure McConnell to bring a vote and end this shutdown once and for all.
202-224-3121
www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/1/22/1828448/-Alarming-FBI-Agents-Assoc-report-details-the-ways-the-shutdown-is-putting-national-security-at-risk?detail=emaildkre