To: The Judiciary Committee, U.S. House of Representatives, U.S. CongressOn November 20, 2003, a congressional report accused federal officials in Boston and Washington, DC, of inflicting “incalculable damage” on the public by protecting murderous government informants over the last 38 years.
The House Committee on Government Reform (HCGR) detailed misconduct by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and their supervisors (right up to former FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover), in the 1965 murder of Edward “Teddy” Deegan. This is a case in which the FBI cultivated a Mafia hit man as a star informant and then government witness, and watched silently as he falsely accused four men of the murder.
Internal FBI documents show that FBI agents and their supervisors knew the identities of the real killers all along. Federal officials also took “affirmative steps” to make sure that the four innocent men convicted in the Deegan case “would not obtain post-conviction relief and that they would die in prison.” Two of the men DID die in prison.
There have been “no adverse consequences” for the law enforcement officials who permitted these atrocities to occur.
Is the Government Reform Committee really surprised by the outcome of their investigation? Are you, Congressmen?
For decades claims of official misconduct have been levied against the FBI by U.S. citizens, but Congress has turned a blind eye to such charges for the most part.
For nearly 30 years, for example, Congress – steeped in denial and fully believing the myth that has grown up around the FBI, i.e., that of premier law enforcement agency, protector of American rights, and defender of the U.S. Constitution – has failed to fully investigate the “Reign of Terror” on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota during the 1970s. It also has failed to investigate the now documented FBI misconduct in the case of American Indian activist Leonard Peltier.
I know the Deegan case isn’t an isolated incident. The case only provides additional proof of what many people – Leonard Peltier among them – already know from bitter experience. The FBI is plagued with a top-down malady characterized by thinking itself above the law, having no concern for justice, and desiring to squash all dissent. The U.S. Constitution is meaningless to an agency that now, as before, thinks the end justifies the means.
The HCGR said the Committee's report should spur a wider investigation. Yes, a wider investigation is indicated. Not just the misuse of informants but ALL FBI misconduct must be uncovered and the responsible parties held accountable.
I’m counting on you to seek out and expose the truth. Any official investigation of FBI misconduct MUST include the “Reign of Terror” on Pine Ridge and the Peltier case where the government has been shown to have: violated international law by using a false affidavit from an incompetent witness to obtain Leonard’s extradition from Canada; withheld critical evidence; fabricated other evidence; intimidated witnesses; hand-picked the trial judge; and prejudiced the jury against the American Indian Movement, in general, and Leonard Peltier, in particular. This was all to ensure that Leonard Peltier, an innocent man, would pay the collective price for the deaths of two FBI agents in 1975. It was and continues to be an act of vengeance only and a shameful perversion of our Constitution.
This is a simple matter of justice, Congressmen. I want it. I want it now. Conduct a full investigation into the FBI misconduct on the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the case of Leonard Peltier. Do it now.
Monday, 28 February 2011
FBI Misconduct - Pine Ridge "Reign of Terror" & Leonard Peltier Petition
