[Infowarrior] - FBI Proposes Building Network of U.S. Informants

[Richard Forno]

FBI Proposes Building Network of U.S. Informants
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July 25, 2007 1:01 PM

http://blogs.abcnews.com/theblotter/2007/07/fbi-proposes-bu.html

Justin Rood Reports:

Fbiproposesbu_mn_2 The FBI is taking cues from the CIA to recruit thousands
of covert informants in the United States as part of a sprawling effort to
boost its intelligence capabilities.

According to a recent unclassified report to Congress, the FBI expects its
informants to provide secrets about possible terrorists and foreign spies,
although some may also be expected to aid with criminal investigations, in
the tradition of law enforcement confidential informants. The FBI did not
respond to requests for comment on this story.

The FBI said the push was driven by a 2004 directive from President Bush
ordering the bureau to improve its counterterrorism efforts by boosting its
human intelligence capabilities.

The aggressive push for more secret informants appears to be part of a new
effort to grow its intelligence and counterterrorism efforts. Other recent
proposals include expanding its collection and analysis of data on U.S.
persons, retaining years' worth of Americans' phone records and even
increasing so-called "black bag" secret entry operations.

To handle the increase in so-called human sources, the FBI also plans to
overhaul its database system, so it can manage records and verify the
accuracy of information from "more than 15,000" informants, according to the
document. While many of the recruited informants will apparently be U.S.
residents, some informants may be overseas, recruited by FBI agents in
foreign offices, the report indicates.

The total cost of the effort tops $22 million, according to the document.

The bureau has arranged to use elements of CIA training to teach FBI agents
about "Source Targeting and Development," the report states. The courses
will train FBI special agents on the "comprehensive tradecraft" needed to
identify, recruit and manage these "confidential human sources." According
to January testimony by FBI Deputy Director John S. Pistole, the CIA has
been working with the bureau on the course.

The bureau apparently mulled whether to adopt entire training courses from
the CIA or from the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA), which like the CIA
recruits spies overseas. But the FBI ultimately determined "the courses
offered by those agencies would not meet the needs of the FBI's unique law
enforcement." The FBI report said it would also give agents "legal and
policy" training, noting that its domestic intelligence efforts are
"constitutionally sensitive."

"It's probably a good sign they are not adopting CIA recruitment techniques
wholesale," said Steven Aftergood of the Federation of American Scientists,
an expert on classified programs.  U.S. intelligence officers abroad can use
bribery, extortion, and other patently illegal acts to corral sources into
working for them, Aftergood noted. "You're not supposed to do that in the
United States," he said.