Ladies and gentlemen,I give you the F B I.
BOSTON. The government's use of murderers as informants constitutes "one of
the greatest failures in the history of federal law enforcement," according
to a draft report from a congressional committee.
The scathing report from the House Government Reform Committee says the
Justice Department's failure to rein in criminal informants has compromised
investigations nationwide with "disastrous consequences."
"Democracy succeeds in the United States when the rule of law is respected.
When the government strays from the rule of law, the harm outweighs the
benefit. In Boston, this is what happened," concludes the report obtained
Monday night by The Associated Press.
FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz declined to comment, saying the agency
had not seen the report.
The committee, under Rep. Dan Burton, R-Indiana, has been investigating for
two years the Justice Department's use of criminal informants. It has
focused on the relationship between Boston FBI agents and the hit men and
mob leaders they cultivated and sometimes protected from prosecution for
crimes as serious as murder.
Retired FBI agent John Connolly was convicted last year for tipping off
informants about to be charged in criminal cases. One of those tipped,
James "Whitey" Bulger, is still on the FBI's 10 Most Wanted list.
Last month, the House committee subpoenaed University of Massachusetts
President William M. Bulger to testify about his fugitive mobster brother.
But he invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and
refused to answer questions.
According to the committee's draft report, the root of the problem with the
Justice Department was lack of oversight. Not only was the department
itself at fault, but Congress as well, for failing in its duty to police
the police.
"In all likelihood, if there had been vigorous oversight of Justice
Department programs, and the FBI's use of informants, most of the events
that are described in this report would not have occurred," the report
says. "Unfortunately, however, there was a failure of oversight. The
Justice Department failed to police itself, and Congress failed to do its job."
The report also directs sharp criticism of the Justice Department for
blocking the committee's efforts to investigate the use of criminals as
informants. In April, after the committee asked to speak with an informant,
Robert Daddeico, the Justice Department claimed it needed more information
to be able to identify and find him.
That was a "particularly curious" statement, the report says, because a
Justice Department employee contacted Daddeico to tell him the committee
wanted to interview him. A few days before the committee interviewed
Daddeico, the FBI offered him a payment of $15,000, according to the report.
Rep. Marty Meehan, D-Massachusetts, who also had not seen the report,
praised the committee for its work.
"I sat through committee hearings that revealed a history of serious
mistakes in the use of criminal informants by members of the Boston FBI
office. These hearings demonstrated the critical importance of changing the
culture and practices that have permeated the bureau and undermined its
credibility," he said in a statement
