Here's another FBI shocker, courtesy of Portland (OR) Mayor Tom Potter:

On Thursday, May 11, 2006, a Special Agent of the Portland Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation stopped a City employee and showed her a badge and ID. He asked if she knew any City Council members. He asked if she would be willing to pass information to him relating to people who work for the City of Portland. He said that while he had duties in other areas, the agency was always interested in information relating to white collar crime and other things.

One important and legitimate role of the FBI is to investigate public corruption within government entities. For example, recently the FBI arrested a member of Congress for public corruption. But federal officials have told me they know of no public corruption in our city. Federal officials say they are conducting no investigation of the City of Portland.

The only conclusion I can draw is that the agent in question was trying to place an informant inside the offices of Portland ’s elected officials and employees, in order to inform on City Council and others.

The actions of the FBI – even if they are the actions of one agent acting on his own - come at an uneasy time for many Americans. In the past few weeks, we have learned that our phone records are not private, and conversations are monitored without warrants. Journalists exposing these actions have been threatened with prosecution.

Even if this incident is nothing more than the work of one overzealous agent, it represents an unacceptable mindset within the agency. When there is no information to indicate ANY public corruption on the part of City Council members or employees, the FBI has no legitimate role in surreptitiously monitoring elected officials and city employees.
As a city, we will continue to cooperate with the FBI on investigating criminal activities and terrorism, to ensure our community is as safe as possible.

But in the absence of any reasonable suspicion of wrongdoing, I believe the FBI’s recent actions smack of "Big Brother." Spying on local government without justification or cause is not acceptable to me. I hope it is not acceptable to you, either.

Thank you,

Tom Potter
Mayor

Sounds pretty reasonable, doesn't it? If someone reports criminal activity to the FBI, they should investigate. But why should they have spies inside the offices of elected officials? Incredibly, the FBI doesn't see any problem with spies:

"The FBI has and will continue to have an open dialogue with Mayor Potter and other city officials concerning a variety of public safety issues that are important to the people of this city. Because of this open relationship, the mayor and the FBI have discussed, on several occasions, the issues raised in his letter. Although we strongly disagree on the significance of the incident described, we do welcome the opportunity to keep lines of communication open."

"The FBI is a part of the communities in which it works. To be effective, it relies on the assistance of those who also live and work in those communities. It is entirely proper for an FBI agent to ask willing citizens to provide information when those citizens feel it is appropriate to do so regarding potential criminal conduct – whether that information involves a bank robbery, kidnapping, public corruption or other crime."

The important word here is potential criminal conduct. Every single person (and lots of pets) are capable of potential criminal conduct. By this logic, the FBI believes it has the right to create an East German-style Stasi state, where the government spies on everyone at all times. Could there be a more un-American idea than that???

"The vast majority of public officials – both elected and appointed – are honest in their work and committed to serving their fellow citizens. Saying that, we’ve seen cases around the country of those who abuse the public trust. The citizens served by the FBI expect – and should expect – the FBI to take reasonable, lawful steps to counter criminal behavior where and when it happens."

No, "the citizens served by the FBI" expect the FBI to investigate crimes when they are reported to the FBI, not to create a Stasi state!

"In the last two years, FBI investigations have led to a 40% increase in the number of indictments of government employees involved in corruption. Many of our investigations start with a tip from someone who encounters corruption in the course of their work. The FBI cannot investigate corruption (or any crime) until it determines that that crime exists, and simply providing citizens with an avenue to provide that information is good police work."

In other words, spying on elected officials is essential to the work of the FBI. Is that the official position of the FBI? It sure sounds like it! Was this Stasi state policy approved by Congress, or have they not been told?

"The FBI’s Portland Division has and will continue to abide by the Constitution as well as all federal laws, rules and regulations concerning the conduct of its investigations."

So the FBI thinks the Stasi State is legal???

A year ago, the ACLU caught FBI counterterrorism agents spying on activist groups like PETA and Greenpeace, claiming they had ties to terrorism!

After the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, John Ashcroft, who was then attorney general, loosened restrictions on the F.B.I.'s investigative powers, giving the bureau greater ability to visit and monitor Web sites, mosques and other public entities in developing terrorism leads. The bureau has used that authority to investigate not only groups with suspected ties to foreign terrorists, but also protest groups suspected of having links to violent or disruptive activities.

This new revelation, along with last year's revelation, sound a lot like "Operation TIPS," the plan announced by John Ashcroft's Justice Department in 2002 to recruit utility workers and letter carriers to spy on American homes. When the American people reacted in outrage, Congress prohibited such spying when it created the Homeland Security Department.

Of course, we know the Bush Administration simply ignores any laws it dislikes, so it's entirely possible that much of Operation TIPS is secretly in effect.

All of which is one more reason why we must Impeach Bush Now!