New FBI Agents' Report: Govt. Shutdown Hinders Counterterrorism, Drug, Sex Crimes Work

[appalachiablue]

Last edited Tue Jan 22, 2019, 08:57 PM - Edit history (1)

FBI agents say shutdown is hampering counterterrorism, sex trafficking probes, NBC News, Jan. 22, 2019.

The partial government shutdown is hampering FBI investigations into terror suspects, drug traffickers and child sexual predators, according to a report by a group representing the federal law enforcement officers. The 72-page report, titled "Voices from the Field," features dozens of firsthand accounts from unnamed agents detailing the ways the shutdown is hindering their work.

"I currently investigate a particularly violent street gang," an agent from the FBI’s central region says in the report. "I have had to tell our local law enforcement partners that I cannot assist in funding these operations because my field office does not have money. This means that the one chance we may have to take down several violent individuals may pass us by and we may not get the chance again."

An unidentified agent who works on counter-terrorism investigations says in the report that 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," says the agent, who works in the western region. "The fear is our enemies know they can run freely." Not being able to pay confidential human sources risks losing them and the information they provide forever," an agent from the central region says in the report. "It is not a switch that we can turn on and off."

The FBI’s roughly 35,000 employees, including 13,000 special agents, are bracing to miss their second paycheck this Friday as the shutdown stretches into its fifth week. "That is one month, four weeks, 30 days without pay," FBI Agents Association President Thomas O’Connor said at a Tuesday press conference. More...

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/fbi-agents-say-shutdown-hampering-counterterrorism-sex-trafficking-probes-n961371

“The shutdown is making it more difficult to perform our jobs of keeping the country safe from criminals and terrorists, said FBIAA President Tom O’Connor in a news conference Tuesday.

https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/fbi-agents-child-trafficking-probes-on-hold-sex-trafficking-victims-without-help-because-of-govt-shutdown/65-d4cdb9ec-a221-472b-a6ea-985f3183e42a

[emulatorloo]

1. Here's a direct link to the original article on the NBC news site

Awful this is happening, Trump continues to put us at risk. Kick and Rec

FBI agents say shutdown is hampering counterterrorism, sex trafficking probes
"The fear is, our enemies know they can run freely," says an FBI counterterrorism agent.

https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/justice-department/fbi-agents-say-shutdown-hampering-counterterrorism-sex-trafficking-probes-n961371

[appalachiablue]

2. A real mess nationally & here in the capital like I've never seen.

TY, I inserted your link above.

[emulatorloo]

3. Grover Norquist must be delighted

“My goal is to cut government in half in twenty-five years, to get it down to the size where we can drown it in the bathtub.”