Special Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) risktheir lives and the safety of their families to protect and serve, yet politicians inWashington, D.C. have left many of them stranded, without fuel, and feeling asthough their operational integrity has been compromised. As a result of politically-motivated sequester cuts, manyin the FBI worry they cannot do their jobs as well as when they had adequate funding.
Some FBI offices have ordered staff not to use theirgovernment vehicles, as sequestration has left them with no moniesin their fuel budgets. Without use of their vehicles, FBI Special Agentscannotdo their jobs effectively. Such cuts, combined withsequestration, ripped more than $700 million from the FBI’s 2013 budget.
National security and public safety are supposed to be the top priorities of government, but were treated in the sequester as equivalent to other forms of discretionary spending. The administration has also abused its own discretion in assigning cuts, as in its controversial decision to free detained illegal aliens.
The cuts to the FBI come at a time when Mexican cartels are increasingoperations in the U.S. through prison gangs which operate outside the cell walls as the Mexican Mafia and the Aryan Brotherhood; prosecutors are being slain in broad daylight or at home; a federal prosecutor resigned from a case due to fears over his safety and that of his loved ones; U.S. Border PatrolAgents have leaked images of Mexican drug smugglers being escorted by men with an AK-47 on US soil, and when there exists a high likelihood that the Mexican Gulf Cartel has begun using the Aryan Brotherhood in the U.S. as assassins and ground troops.
One FBI Special Agent spoke to me on the condition ofanonymity about concerns for the men and women of the FBI andthe safety of the American public. The Special Agent stated:
We are meetingat a Starbucks in the morning and carpooling in a private car. Once atthe office, we are not allowed to use our government vehicles to performour duties. I am concerned about the integrity of our mission. What is going to happen if a terrorist attack orother emergency occurs when we do not have gas in our vehicles andaren’t allowed to use them.
The Special Agent explained why they cannot use their personal vehicles in the commission of their work:
Longbefore money problems, there was a culture of not using our ownvehicles, both because of the liability to the Bureau and because itexposes our identities and bad guys can find our spouses and childrenmuch easier. If we are doing surveillance or doing the necessaryinterviews with sources or bad guys that are required to keep Americanssafe in our personal vehicles, they can easily find us or who we are.
Claims about the FBI’s field operations being impacted by a severelack of funds was confirmed by both the president FBI Agents Association(FBIAA) in an exclusive telephone interview with Breitbart News and inan official statement issued to Breitbart News from the FBI HeadquartersPublic Information Office.
The claimsof fuel shortages and Special Agents being left unable to use vehicleswas confirmed only by the FBIAA, but FBI Headquarters did not contradictor denythat claim in their response to Breitbart News.
The FBIAA’s president, Special Agent Konrad Motyka, confirmed to Breitbart News the most explosiveassertions from the unnamed FBI source. He stated that “Rural SpecialAgents’ jobs have become impossible in some instances because they cannot use public transportation like the FBI can in larger cities.”
cars,” says Motyka . He added: “Obviously, FBI fielddivisions having to cut back so drastically has an effect on operationalabilities. There will be fewer meetings with human sources and fewersurveillances can be conducted. Fewer investigations can be done andthey will take longer.”
Motyka also addressed the long-term effects of recent cuts on public safety: “People are retiring.There’s a hiring freeze, new hires are needed to replace those who areleaving. This will effect the ability to protect and serve. Our abilityto use sophisticated techniques in investigations will suffer becauseresearch dollars are needed to keep up with technology.”
Motyka said the FBI was considering furloughing Special Agents for9-14 days without pay between now and October 1, 2013. He said: “Therewill be fewer agents to work on cases, the investigations will suffer.”
Knowingthe men and women who serve our nation in the FBI will do everythingpossible to carry on their mission in the face of monetary neglect from politicians in Washington DC makes theexclusive official response from FBI Headquarters to Breitbart News allthe more heartbreaking–and frightening.
In addition, the FBI’s official response to a list of queries from Breitbart News was as follows:
Thecombination of the reductions included in the FY 2013 full year CR andsequestration will require the FBI to cut more than $700 million fromits FY 2013 budget, requiring significant reductions in all programs. Each FBI division and field office is scrutinizing its budget for costsavings. At the same time, every effort is being made to minimize theimpact on field operations as we balance the need to reduce spendingwith our mission to serve and protect the American people.
One immediate impact of Washington’s failure to prioritize national security and law enforcement may have been the decision of an assistant U.S. Attorney to back out of prosecuting the Aryan Brotherhood in the wake of the Kaufman County, TX prosecutor slayings. The FBI is one of the key agencies charged with keeping federal prosecutors safe, yet the federal prosecutor recused himself from the case due to “safety concerns.”
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