[Mb-civic] NYTimes.com Article: Whistle-Blowing Said to Be Factor in an F.B.I. Firing

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Whistle-Blowing Said to Be Factor in an F.B.I. Firing

July 29, 2004
 By ERIC LICHTBLAU 



 

WASHINGTON, July 28 - A classified Justice Department
investigation has concluded that a former F.B.I. translator
at the center of a growing controversy was dismissed in
part because she accused the bureau of ineptitude, and it
found that the F.B.I. did not aggressively investigate her
claims of espionage against a co-worker. 

The Justice Department's inspector general concluded that
the allegations by the translator, Sibel Edmonds, "were at
least a contributing factor in why the F.B.I. terminated
her services," and the F.B.I. is considering disciplinary
action against some employees as a result, Robert S.
Mueller III, director of the bureau, said in a letter last
week to lawmakers. A copy of the letter was obtained by The
New York Times. 

Ms. Edmonds worked as a contract linguist for the F.B.I.
for about six months, translating material in Turkish,
Persian and Azerbaijani. She was dismissed in 2002 after
she complained repeatedly that bureau linguists had
produced slipshod and incomplete translations of important
terrorism intelligence before and after the Sept. 11
attacks. She also accused a fellow Turkish linguist in the
bureau's Washington field office of blocking the
translation of material involving acquaintances who had
come under F.B.I. suspicion and said the bureau had allowed
diplomatic sensitivities with other nations to impede the
translation of important terrorism intelligence. 

The Edmonds case has proved to be a growing concern to the
F.B.I. because it touches on three potential
vulnerabilities for the bureau: its ability to translate
sensitive counterterrorism material, its treatment of
internal "whistle-blowers," and its classification of
sensitive material that critics say could be embarrassing
to the bureau. 

The Justice Department has imposed an unusually broad veil
of secrecy on the Edmonds case, declaring details of her
case to be a matter of "state secrets." The department has
blocked her from testifying in a lawsuit brought by
families of Sept. 11 victims, it has retroactively
classified briefings Congressional officials were given in
2002, and it has classified the inspector general's entire
report on its investigation into her case. As a result,
groups promoting government openness have accused the
Justice Department of abusing the federal procedures in
place for classifying sensitive material. 

Mr. Mueller's letter, sent July 21 to leading members of
the Senate Judiciary Committee, offered a rare glimpse
inside the F.B.I.'s thinking on the case, and its content
surprised some congressional officials. 

Given the tight secrecy surrounding the case, "one could
argue that Mueller himself disclosed classified material"
by quoting from a still-secret Justice Department report,
said one congressional official who spoke on condition of
anonymity. 

In his letter, Mr. Mueller said he was pleased that the
office of the inspector general "had not concluded that the
F.B.I. retaliated against Ms. Edmonds when it terminated
her services on April 2, 2002." At the same time, he said,
"I was concerned by the O.I.G.'s conclusion that Ms.
Edmonds' allegations 'were at least a contributing factor
in why the F.B.I. terminated her services.' " 

He said the F.B.I. would work with the inspector general to
determine whether any employees should be disciplined as a
result. And he emphasized that he wanted to encourage all
F.B.I. employees to "raise good faith concerns about
mismanagement or misconduct" without fear of reprisals or
intimidation. 

The letter did not say what other factors, if any, beyond
Ms. Edmonds's accusations may have played a part in the
decision to dismiss her. In the past, federal officials
have suggested that her allegations had nothing to do with
her dismissal, pointing instead to what they described as
her "disruptive" presence in the field office. 

The inspector general "also criticized the F.B.I.'s failure
to adequately pursue Ms. Edmonds's allegations of espionage
as they related to one of her colleagues," Mr. Mueller said
in his letter. 

In that case, Ms. Edmonds accused a fellow Turkish linguist
at the F.B.I. of failing to disclose her previous contacts
with members of an overseas group who became the subject of
an intelligence investigation and of blocking the
translation of material as "not pertinent." 

Mr. Mueller said that the F.B.I.'s prior review of the case
did not corroborate Ms. Edmonds's allegations. Nor was
anyone charged as a result of the espionage investigation.
But Mr. Mueller said that given the inspector general's
concerns that the case was not adequately investigated, the
F.B.I. plans to revisit the case and "conduct additional
investigation as appropriate." 

Officials at the F.B.I. and the inspector general's office
declined comment on the Edmonds case Wednesday, saying the
review remains classified. 

An official with knowledge of the report who spoke on
condition of anonymity said investigators confirmed some of
Ms. Edmonds's allegations about translation problems to be
true, but could not corroborate others because of a lack of
evidence. None of her accusations were disproved, the
official said. 

Ms. Edmonds said in an interview Wednesday that she had not
been informed about any of the inspector general's findings
and was planning a lawsuit to force the public release of
the report. 

She said was gratified to hear that the inspector general
found that her allegations played a part in her dismissal,
and she said public pressure was needed to correct what she
considers continuing problems in the F.B.I.'s ability to
translate terrorism intelligence. 

"Here we are almost three years after Sept. 11, and these
problems have not been corrected," she said. "This is one
of the major problems the intelligence community is
facing." 

F.B.I. officials say that while they are continuing to seek
more linguists, particularly in Arabic, Farsi and other
languages critical to terrorism investigations, they
believe they have already made strong inroads in correcting
translation problems. 

According to data supplied to Congress, the F.B.I tripled
the number of Arabic language specialists and contract
linguists on staff from Sept. 11, 2001, to this March, with
the number rising to 209 from 70. Overall, the number of
linguists rose to 1,227 from 784, the bureau said. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/29/politics/29fbi.final.html?ex=1092116826&ei=1&en=36d98c5925ae51f1


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