9/11 Law Enforcement Privacy

Law Enforcement Sensitive

MEMORANDUM FOR THE RECORD

Eye~d kFBI Washington Field Office JTTF Agent) Interview

Type.\~f event: Interview

Date: July 30, 2003
Special AC~.~ssIssues: None
..rrepared by: \~.ance Cole
·"'
team Number: '6.
L~ation: FBI w~~ington Field Office
Parti~ipants - Non-Com~ission: FBI Assistant General Counsel Sean O'Neill
partici.pants - Commission: '.Lance Cole and John Tamm

, "'p~rsonal Backgroundi·1 Loined the FBI Washington Field Office

J..?int

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(:'WFO") Terrorism Task Force ("JTTF") on March 3, 2001. He previously was an
o'~cer in th'~,.Capitol Police Intelligence Section. He was assigned to the WFO JTTF for
a t~ee-year ~~,~ation,but how long he will serve on the JTTF is up to the FBI and his
sup~rvisors at t~.e Capitol Police. Two other officers from the Capitol Police Intelligence
Sect~:~n haveprev~,ouslY served stints on the WFO JTTF. Only the Intelligence Section of
the Capitol Police'sends officers to the JTIF.
" Iwa~'~ned as a criminal investigator while at the Capital Police
Intelligence Section. "'He has been with the Capitol Police since 1993. He served in the
military police in the 1~?Os, then earned a Bachelor's degree in Criminal Justice at the
University of Maryland \hile working as a fireman. After completing his degree he
joined the Capitol Police a~a ~niformed officer in 1993. He spent five years as a
uniformed officer, then in f~?8 he joined the Intelligence Section. The Capitol Police
Intelligence Section protects ~embers of Congress while they are inside the United
States. Their primary responsi'~,~lity is to follow up and investigate threats against
members of Congress. \...

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Pre-9ft1 FBI Experienc~"I---"'lwas asked by his supervisors at the Capitol

Police Intelligence Section to join the JTTF. He joined the JTTF in March 2001, and
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.'\\ ''''''' \" prior to the 9-11 attacks he was in a rotation with the rest of the JTTF agents
"';, \'::-., "'i[l~estigating suspicious packages and persons, investigating bomb threats, etc. Prior to

\\::"'\ \\'" 9- n, he received his assignments from the JITF supervisor and was "an extra hand for
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Bureau." He also was involved with anything that happened at the WFO that
r~\olved"~~ngress, although he rarely had work that involved Congress. Most of his
ti~:~ ..was sp'e~~ following up on leads that might involve terrorism. He was "fully
inte~~ted" with.the FBI counterterrorism agents on the JTTF. Prior to the 9-11
\\.\"\,~.
attack'~~ lai~'Q'-.receivedassignments from his Capitol Police supervisor. For
"""'" \\example~. he might be-asked to investigate a threat against a Member of Congress that
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\. \. took place ..in another state. He would work with the local FBI field office to investigate
\\ \".~h.~matter.and he always ~6~,good responses from the field offices in such cases. This
\ ~~gement"~ffectively leave~'1 l,vith two bosses, and his position requires a
~ '. '. ..
··\"~~'l.~cing act ··~.floyalties" to two sets of supervisors. There is not a security clearance
~~~b·l.~m reporting ..information to his Capitol Police supervisors, however, because his
Sa~it~l Police supervisors all have TS/SCI clearances.
• '\ \, 'I ~as ~,?rking "right-wing stuff" such as white supremacists and militia
gr~up's prior to the 9- i"-l.attacks. Since the 9-11 attacks he has been assigned to the "left-
wing p,rogram" and is working "black separatist stuff" as a case agent on the DT -1 squad,
He i'~ working on source development because one of the squad's objectives is to develop
sou~sl ~as not not~d significant changes in policies or procedures since the 9-
11 att~cks. He "does not get l·~.volved with" FBI Headquarters, and does not know what
new p~.licies have been put in pl~ce since 9-11. He has not used any of the new
PATRI9T Act power, and he has-not used FISAs or non-FISA wiretaps in his cases.
o/hen asked about his inte;ktion with other law enforcement and investigatory
agenciesJ Isaid that he "can 't '~ll cold and get information" and that it "takes
personal relationships" to get informetion. He has developed those personal relationships
at other agencies, which is somethin that he did both before and after the 9-11 attacks.

\I..... _-IIlsaid that he is a former chair of

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\ .\·...~he R~gional Intemg~~c~~ommittee, which helped him establish contacts in the

:: :..\\ ---. -. intelligence community : .
\ \\:\ .\. \ ·· ..~I Information SYS~~m~:L;I~lUihad an FBI Automated Case Support
\("AC.~") .system password since before the 9-1 lattacks, but ACS "is a bear of a system."
Th~C~i>itol~olice system, while not nearly as large ad~iabase,is "much more
accessible." For example, with the Capitol Police system you can plugin an address and
. ..... \.get allinformation about it; he hasn't been able to do that with the ACS syst~in:·I.. _--'
h:~.~heard-.t.~at a ne\ systeitl.~ill be in place in December. He also uses other law
. . en:f~rcement'.~atabas~~ and hegoes to other JTTF members to access their home
\\ \..,~gen·~.ies'databases. .'. -.
..,....,.,.\,.\ "'1 Ib~l.~~ves th~"~FO JTTF'~~'~~probably unique" [among FBI field offices]
·'·,.,.be~ause
of the number of law enforcementagencies in the area. He understands that the
~o~~ mission of the F~l is still d~mestic law ~~foJcement. For example, the Anthrax
iAy~'~,~igationhas been rJn, out ofth~\~FO. As t~~'·C.~pitol Police representative on the
: JTrF~l tnteracts with-the Irania~"sq~ad, and he'~il!. walk down the hall to talk with
'\ the~ about activities affecting-'Congress, S~bl:I as lobbying ·~ct,ivities.

\. \"" Role of FBI Headquar~'e~s in Count~'rt~rrorism Ca~~s'l Forks with an

~alY~'~ at FBI Headquarters namedl .'-"k.sp?)on "black separatist matters:'
b'4t oth'¢rwise has had little interaction with Headqu~e.rs. He has not been affected by
the fonna,tion of the National JTTF or the Flying SqUad~:f::Jfrequently uses the
WFp anal~sts that are assigned to his squad, for example to analyze telephone toll call
reco~ds. H~ also sometimes uses the analysts for more substantive projects, such as
histo~cal an~lysis of an organization or group. H~ occasionally gets resources, such as
surveillance p..ersonnel, through other JTTF members, if FBI resources are not available.
. Js not doing any ongoing work relating to the 9-11 attacks. He did work
on the immedia,~ response to the attacks and on running down leads after the attacks, but
nothing beyond that,
In closing~~"I--'"'I~olunteered that he believes persona] relationships are the key

_....
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..... has never had any problems with the timeliness or

quality of the information he has obtain~~Lfrom1

......... ....._-----_ ...
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• :1 ~opes to stay on as the Capitol Police force representative on the JTTF for
the foreseeable future.
LAW ENFORCEMENT SENSITIVE

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