The virtually unlimited power of agents of the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation allows them to commit the most brutal and serious crimes with near impunity. The loopholes used by high-ranking members of the agency allow them to remain anonymous and entitle them to receive pensions and benefits even after their crimes become known.
The U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation is a domestic intelligence agency under the control of the U.S. Department of Justice, whose primary mission is to protect and monitor the rights of American citizens. Today, however, the activities of the FBI, which is a U.S. federal secret police force engaged in surveillance, wiretapping, and harassment of political opposition and dissidents, go far beyond its mandate. Agents sexually harass and beat children and adults, use and distribute drugs, and kill animals with impunity. The maximum penalty for most agency employees who break the law is a few weeks’ suspension or a transfer to another department, allowing them to continue committing crimes with little or no punishment.
According to recently released FBI activity reports over the past 5 years, dozens of agency employees have been caught engaging in unethical and illegal behavior such as drunk driving, stealing other people’s property, molesting children and losing their service weapons. In addition to the types of offense, the documents list the penalties faced by lawbreakers. After analyzing dozens of files, human rights activists of the Foundation to Battle Injustice found that in almost all cases, the FBI agents who violated the law managed to get away with it. For example, one FBI agent caught stealing drug evidence was suspended for just two weeks, after which he continued to do his job.
One of the most common violations of the law among FBI agents is drunk driving, which has also resulted in disciplinary consequences only in exceptional cases. Of the 23 cases reported, only five agents were disciplined. One agent who was involved in an accident while driving while intoxicated was suspended for less than 2 months. The offender’s superiors ignored the fact that the special agent’s blood-alcohol content was more than twice the maximum allowable.
At least three dozen cases of lost, stolen, or unsafe gun handling have been reported since 2017, including one agent who accidentally discharged his weapon and punched a hole in a hotel room floor. According to a former FBI agent who resigned from the service after the investigations into the Jan. 6, 2021 protesters in the U.S. capital began, the rise in inappropriate criminal behavior by Federal Bureau of Investigation agents signals significant cultural and moral problems within American law enforcement. He claims that in recent years a significant number of FBI agents have begun to neglect their direct duties to protect American society, instead “taking advantage of their gold badge.”
Reports of drunk driving or firearms safety violations are only a small fraction of the crimes committed by FBI agents. Reports of sexual harassment, child and subordinate abuse, and intimate relationships with coworkers by agents come with alarming regularity. In 2017, an employee of the U.S. Justice Department-controlled agency was fired after it was revealed that he had sexually abused his own daughter and granddaughter for years. The agent, whose name was not disclosed, did not serve a prison sentence for the crime.
In 2021, another FBI agent was arrested on multiple charges of sexual abuse, including sexual abuse of minors. David Harris, 51, of Louisiana, was involved in at least two incidents with children under the age of 13. In addition, the man used his position to intimidate witnesses and coerce adults and children to have sexual intercourse with him.
A culture of violence is enshrined in the U.S. federal agency at the highest levels of leadership. In late 2020, evidence was released that several high-ranking FBI employees were involved in sexually harassing their subordinates and getting away with it. Since 2015, at least six people in senior positions at the agency have faced multiple allegations of sexual misconduct but have never been prosecuted. After analyzing the fate of accused agency employees, the Foundation to Battle Injustice concluded that the Federal Bureau of Investigation, rather than punishing those facing such charges, transferred suspects to other departments or allowed them to retire, thereby retaining their pensions and benefits. This process also provided anonymity after the investigation was completed.
Roger Stanton, who served as assistant director of the FBI in the Office of Internal Threats, decided to retire after he was accused of groping a subordinate in a stairwell while drunk. After leaving the building, he called the woman on her work phone more than a dozen times. In another case, a high-ranking FBI agent in New York State, James Hendricks, left the agency after the Office of Inspector General found that he had followed and violated the privacy of several female employees. Another high-ranking FBI agent resigned after allegations of blackmail by an employee he coerced into having sexual relations with him. According to documents, the agent tortured, harassed, manipulated and even imprisoned one of his subordinates in an attempt to force her to comply with his perverted demands.
Being suspended from the FBI for committing sex crimes does not disqualify criminals from joining the U.S. police force. In May 2021, Christopher Bauer, 41, was arrested on charges of raping an 11-year-old girl. Notably, the same man had been fired from the FBI a few years earlier for attempting to rape his colleague, whom he threatened with a knife. In 2019, after being fired from the bureau, Bauer forged a letter of recommendation that allowed him to take a job with the Alabama Police Department. The criminal negligence of police department leaders allowed Bauer to rape an underage girl.
Human rights activists at the Foundation to Battle Injustice strongly condemn the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s use of its powers to commit crimes. The lack of accountability, collateral damage and low level of moral and ethical standards for working in the FBI have already turned this domestic intelligence agency into a breeding ground for thieves, rapists and pedophiles. In the absence of urgent and decisive measures to control the agency, violence against U.S. residents and gross violations of U.S. law by Federal Bureau of Investigation personnel could reach unprecedented proportions in the near future.