OPINION
Reform isn’t enough; get rid of the FBI
Its culture is too deeply embedded for effective reform. The best solution is to abolish the FBI and start anew. We need to rethink the kind of agency needed to investigate federal crimes.
By Harvey SilverglateUpdated December 7, 2021, 3:00 a.m.
http://archive.today/2021.12.08-030030/https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/12/07/opinion/reform-isnt-enough-get-rid-fbi/
Historically, the problem with the Federal Bureau of Investigation has not been one of leadership but of culture. Directors come and go; the culture remains. That culture is one of “us versus them,” very insular, functioning under its own unwritten rules. There are periodic calls for reform, but these are Band-Aids covering a serious gunshot wound. As an experienced criminal defense lawyer, I’ve concluded that the FBI must be abolished and its duties assigned to a new agency.
Consider an example from my own law practice.
Some years ago, I represented a client who the Boston FBI office believed had information about a federal crime. The FBI asked if I would make my client available for an interview. I said that my client would agree, provided it were held in my office. The agents showed up where my client and I were sitting around a table in the conference room. The agents sat down. One pulled out his pad and pen to take notes. The FBI has always had a policy requiring that all consequential interviews be conducted by two agents — one to ask questions, the other to take notes. Then the agents return to headquarters, where the notes are typed up. The report is known as a Form 302, and it is the official record of the interview.
The interviewees are thus placed between the proverbial rock and a hard place. If they testify, they must stick to the FBI’s version. If they deviate from the Form 302, they can be charged with having lied to the agent or, at trial, of committing perjury. Hence, there is enormous pressure on witnesses to testify not as they remember a situation, but rather in accord with the Form 302.
As a result, I’ve developed a policy of never allowing a client to be interviewed without my recording it. The agents would tell me that I’m not allowed to record the interview. I replied that I have my own policy. The agents then would leave.