Another Agent Blasts FBI on 911 Via NY Transfer News * All the News That Doesn't Fit Bloomberg News - May 30, 2002 http://quote.bloomberg.com/fgcgi.cgi?ptitle=Bloomberg%20News&touch=1&s1=blk&tp=ad_topright_all&T=markets_bfgcgi_content99.ht&s2=ad_right1_all&bb2=ad_bottom2_all&bt=ad_position1_all&ss1=ad_top1_all&bt2=blk&ss2=ad_top2_all&tag=feature.html&middle=ad_frame2_all&s=APPaheRRxRkJJIEFn FBI Agent Says He's Prevented From Exposing Agency By Julie Ziegler Washington, May 30 (Bloomberg) -- An FBI agent in Chicago who has written an unpublished book attacking the agency's counterterrorist activities said the bureau is preventing him from airing his criticisms. The agent, Robert Wright, said his aim is to expose the Federal Bureau of Investigation's failures in deterring terrorist attacks and strip the agency of responsibility for probing terrorism. He held a news conference with his lawyers to accuse the FBI of muzzling him. FBI Director Robert Mueller, in announcing plans yesterday to overhaul the agency, acknowledged that the bureau missed signs that might have alerted them to the Sept. 11 attacks. He praised FBI agent Coleen Rowley, who has said the bureau failed to investigate thoroughly a suspected terrorist caught in Minneapolis last summer. "The FBI threatened Robert Wright from coming forward, effectively threatened him with his job," his lawyer, Larry Klayman, said. Klayman is head of Judicial Watch, an organization that has filed numerous suits against the government and former President Bill Clinton. Wright, who worked on an FBI counterterrorism task force from 1993 to 1999, declined to discuss specific allegations of FBI mistakes. The FBI told him and his lawyers as recently as last night that doing so might result in his dismissal and possible legal action, he said. FBI Responds FBI spokesman Bill Carter declined to discuss specifics of the Wright matter and referred to an earlier statement defending the bureau's conduct. "Many thousands of investigative hours have been expended in Chicago to identify all terrorist-related activity and obtain evidence to support criminal prosecution and prevent terrorist acts," the statement said. "No information has been uncovered -- either before or after Sept. 11 -- that tied any of the 19 hijackers to the subjects and activities of the Chicago investigation that agent Wright worked on." Wright said the FBI hasn't taken the threat of terrorism in the U.S. seriously. He said his book, entitled "Fatal Betrayals of the Intelligence Mission,"describes the agency's failures. Wright sued the FBI in federal court in Washington earlier this month for blocking publication of the manuscript. His attorneys also said the FBI had prevented him from being interviewed by the New York Times. The agent read from statements he said were approved by the FBI a year ago. Will Not Feel Safe' "Knowing what I know, I can confidently say that until the investigative responsibilities for terrorism are transferred from the FBI, I will not feel safe," Wright said. "The FBI has proved for the past decade it cannot identify and prevent acts of terrorism against the U.S. and its citizens at home and abroad." He also proposed combining the Drug Enforcement Agency with the FBI to eliminate duplication with the FBI's drug squads. Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton said two complaints that had been previously filed against Wright were leaked to discredit him. Fitton said the complaints that Wright had harassed an Arab- American co-worker and sexually harassed a female colleague are "without foundation." Officials "who took a close look at the sexual harassment complaint" found that there was nothing there, Fitton said. He said the discrimination complaint is in limbo with the agency. Fitton said the release of the information violates the Privacy Act. (c) 2002 Bloomberg News * JudicalWatch.org - May 29 2002 http://www.judicialwatch.org For Immediate Release - May 29, 2002 Contact: Press Office 202-646-5172 MEDIA ADVISORY ANOTHER ACTIVE FBI AGENT "BLOWS THE WHISTLE" ON 9/11 FBI SPECIAL AGENT ROBERT G. WRIGHT TO HOLD PRESS CONFERENCE Wright to Disclose FBI Negligence and Obstruction of Counterterrorism Criminal Investigations Involving Hamas & al Qaeda Room National Press Club (Washington, DC) Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and legally prosecutes government corruption and abuse, said today that its client, Special Agent Robert G. Wright, Jr. will hold a press conference on Thursday, May 30, 2002 from 9:30 AM to 11:00 AM in the Holeman Room of the National Press Club in Washington, DC. Special Agent Wright will "blow the whistle" on FBI negligence and obstruction by senior, supervisory FBI agents and FBI headquarters Terrorism Unit agents of counterterrorism investigations targeting figures belonging to and supporting terrorist operations by Hamas and al Qaeda. Judicial Watch's co-counsel, David P. Schippers, Esq. will join Special Agent Wright at the press conference. Special Agent Wright, of the FBI's Chicago Division, is the only agent in the history of the FBI to have used the civil forfeiture laws to seize over $1.4 million dollars in Hamas terrorist money in connection with a criminal investigation of terrorist money laundering operations here in the United States. In recent days, Minneapolis FBI agent Coleen Rowley has come forward and corroborated the experiences of Special Agent Wright in dealing with FBI HQ and FBI senior management, who consistently delayed, down-played and soft-peddled the investigative efforts of counterterrorism agents in the field. Innovative, aggressive agents were routinely checked by obstinate bureaucrats. Despite his extraordinary success and superb performance evaluations, Agent Wright encountered stonewalling, negligence, indifference and outright opposition by his superiors and FBI HQ in pursuing terrorists operating within the United States. (C) Copyright 1997-2002, Judicial Watch, Inc. ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytnyc-06.01.02-15:20:16-19380