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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The agent’s most difficult task was gaining enough weight to pass as an AP reporter.
this is a tactic to take down a fucking 15yo… hell, no wonder they’ve shredded the constitution in their endless search for the oogabooga terrorists amongst us…
What makes this b.s. artist think we have any respect for the FBI anymore anyhow? Did they prosecute Cliven Bundy after they aimed loaded assault rifles at the BLM and others? How many false flag operations have they conducted now that they claimed were “terrorist” plans? This was recently published. I could go on. This two-bit loser is no good, nor is his agency anymore.
Don’t worry, “news” industry…you’re rapidly losing so much trust across the board that misappropriating your names as a means of gaining suspect confidence will not be at all useful going forward.
These protests by the AP will do nothing to prevent this in the future. It worked so they’ll do it again.