[Infowarrior] - Portland mayor says FBI tried to recruit informant at City Hall

[Richard Forno]

Portland mayor says FBI tried to recruit informant at City Hall
http://159.54.227.3/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060524/NEWS06/60524054

PORTLAND, Ore. - Portland Mayor Tom Potter said Wednesday that an FBI agent
had attempted to recruit an informant inside the offices of City Hall.

According to an open letter to the community released by the mayor's office,
federal authorities have since told Potter that they know of no public
corruption in Portland and are not conducting an investigation of the city.

FBI spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele released a statement saying that the FBI
"strongly disagrees on the significance of the incident described," and that
the agency intends to continue discussions with city officials "concerning a
variety of public safety issues."

Steele also said it was, "entirely proper for an FBI agent to ask willing
citizens to provide information when those citizens feel it is appropriate
to do so regarding potential criminal conduct."

Potter has clashed with the federal government before. City Council members,
including Potter, voted in April 2005 to remove Portland police from a Joint
Terrorism Task Force led by the FBI, a task force that has expanded to about
100 cities across the nation.

In the open letter to the community, posted on the city's Web site
Wednesday, Potter said the agency's actions smacked of "big brother,"
especially in light of recent news reports about several of the nation's
biggest phone companies sharing millions of customer records with the
National Security Agency.

According to Potter's letter, a city employee was stopped by a special agent
from the Portland FBI on May 11, who asked whether she knew any of
Portland's five city council members.

Potter's letter said the employee was asked, "if she would be willing to
pass information to him relating to people who work for the city of
Portland. He said that while he had duties in other areas, the agency was
always interested in information relating to white collar crime and other
things."

Potter concluded by chiding the agency, writing, "when there is no
information to indicate any public corruption on the part of City Council
members or employees, the FBI has no legitimate role in surreptitiously
monitoring elected officials and city employees."