FBI Whistleblower Answers Questions in Philadelphia

FBI Whistleblower Answers Questions in Philadelphia

Despite a warning from his superiors, FBI Special Agent Bassem Youssef appeared at a January 12 session of the American Library Association’s Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia with his attorney and answered questions from the audience. Although in October the FBI had approved his request to give a speech on the Bureau’s counterterrorism program, Youssef received an e-mail January 3 that said his talk could threaten the fight against terrorism and required clearance, a process that could take weeks. The message was accompanied by a 12-page document, explicitly marked as confidential, that contained directives on Bureau secrecy.

Youssef, who is the highest-ranking Arab-American FBI counterterrorism agent and who won a medal for penetrating the network of Islamic terrorists responsible for bombing the World Trade Center in 1993, said during the ALA question-and-answer session that he was speaking as a “citizen and library user, not as an FBI official.” Youssef’s attorney Stephen M. Kohn noted that the FBI’s method of intimidating its employees often works within the framework of the First Amendment, but the Bureau “can’t figure out how to censor spontaneous answers to questions.”

In 2002, Youssef blew the whistle to the director of the FBI and Congress that discriminatory practices within the Bureau were undermining the effectiveness of America’s counterterrorism efforts. Speaking publicly for the first time on the subject at the ALA meeting, the Egyptian-born Youssef said that FBI officials consider that “cultural understanding of the Middle East and radical Islamic groups, as well as the Arabic language, was unnecessary” in conducting counterterrorism investigations. Although the FBI has claimed to be “working hard to get Arabic-speaking agents,” Youssef said he has been completely sidelined since the September 11 attacks. Kohn added that the FBI actually prohibits Youssef from using his Arabic-language expertise to question informants.

Asked about the FBI’s use of warrantless National Security Letters to conduct investigations, at least one instance of which involved a library organization, Youssef began to answer but was advised by his attorney that this was an area that he should avoid. “The FBI was quite clear that he could be disciplined as a result of his answers,” Kohn explained.

Kohn, who was not under a gag order, answered for Youssef, explaining that in hundreds of cases, under the guidance of FBI lawyers, NSLs were issued under “exigent circumstances,” which by definition means a life-threatening, immediate emergency. “But the policy approved by the FBI in writing permitted exigent searches in nonexigent circumstances,” Kohn said. “If the person signing the National Security Letter has no real basic understanding of terrorism or the Middle East—no expertise, no training, no language, no anything—what gives them the qualification for signing warrantless searches on thousands of Americans?”

Youssef did say that he was an “eternal optimist. I hope that the American public will realize that this has to change. The FBI stands for lofty goals and I want it to succeed.” When asked by an audience member where he found hope, Youssef said he was a “strong believer in a righteous God. If we put our trust in him and follow his laws, we will succeed. Jesus Christ is my savior and I live for the Lord.” Kohn told American Libraries after the program that Youssef was a Coptic Christian, although his colleagues in the Bureau often assumed he was a Muslim.

Youssef has a federal discrimination suit pending against the Bureau, a step he was prompted to take in 2004 after being passed over for several promotions and hearing implied threats against him by other agents, one of whom said that whistleblowers should be hung. Kohn said that for Youssef to “come here and talk to you is extraordinary,” but it was an “indication of the severity of the problem.”

“Since 1986 when I was recruited by the FBI,” Youssef said, “all I’ve ever wanted to do is to be a good FBI agent and arrest terrorists.” He added that “civil liberties and national security are not at odds with each other.”

ALA outside counsel Tom Susman said he intended to file a Freedom of Information Act request to obtain the confidential multipage document that the FBI sent to Youssef prior to the meeting.

Posted January 13, 2008.