RE: Email and Guidance

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This document is a lengthy email from a FBI agent who repeatedly expresses discomfort with FBI interrogation methods. He reports being "placed in a very precarious situation" and "asked to do something I fest was wrong given what FBI agents can and cannot do in the US." He also states that he has received a lack of guidance in the chain of command about how to proceed, but states that "if we can't come back to the states and testify before Congress.... we shouldn't be doing it." He expresses concerns about short term results v. long term problems for the FBI and proposes a different program.

Doc_type: 
Email
Doc_date: 
Monday, May 18, 2015
Doc_rel_date: 
Sunday, June 14, 2015
Doc_text: 

(Div13) (FBI);
----O fainal
From
Sent: Tuesday, M
To
Cc:
(Div 3 FBI);
(WF) (FBI)
Subject: RE: E-mail and guidance
•*,•4 DIv13 FBI)i
iv13) (FBI)
IDiv13) (FBI) •
18, 2004 5:24 AM
'v13) (FBI)
d '
Message
LATE: 05-17-2011
CLik2SIFIED DY 65179 DIIII/113S
PEAZON: 1.4 (0)
EIECLAS2;IFY ON: 05-1 -206
Page 1 of 4
b6
b7C (CTD) (FBI) •
Subject: FW: E-mail and guidance INFOREATI C GITTAINED •
REIN IS ILTNCLASSIFIED EXCEPT
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Conus2/ITOS 1/CTD/FBIHQ
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---:-Ori inal Mess
From:
Sent:
To:
Cc:
'(Div13) (FBI)
Subject: RE: -mai an• guidance
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RECORD 315n-ho-c1406946-e
) (FBI))
bC,
BI);
(Div13) (FBI);!
(Div13) (FBI)
18, 2004 6:24 AM
1n• I believ oint Was thatnand MLDU know and understand what the mission is and where land
. sensitive' issues nee to be addressed. NoW that the Amerithrax team hasdeparted,.We have directed! l
•!=o make their way back to Bagram asa issues you addressed below were diScussed when Bald •
visited Afghanistan, as Well as pit visit wit and thecomMand staff there. It was made very clear, to the - 17.6
* rriilitary ho • terviews, what we canno and will not participate in.. We have already had one Agent . . b7C
. 'working wit nterviewing a detainee at Bagrarn. ( 'will provide ydu with details
regarding these iscussions upon arrival. OGC guidance will be provided as soon as it is received. MAC bl Per L OD
. . .
I Il understand completely. I knew that when I called Tom Harrington that it would be problematic and
'that I would most likely get in trouble. I felt like•nder the circumstances at Abu Gareb prison, our b6
assignment here and my read of the situation that I required immediate guidance from senior management.' b 7 C
I accept full responsibility for the decision to make the call and apologize if I placed you or anyone else in a .
difficult position. Please feel free to forward this email to Mr. Battle in that MI sure he is upset with my '
.actions.
I have been placed in a very precarious situation here. I was given an assignment by the military and read
in on a compartmentalized TS/SCI Sirfris_turogrr that no one in my chain of command at HQ has
been read in on with the exception of who was with us at Bragg - at least that is my
understanding (and trust me when I say a even if you are read in, you have to be here to understand
what I am concerned about). Hence, its difficult for me to even discuss some of the issues with the chain of •
•- ON2g/76.612 # 9 FBI0104840GC
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_Message
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Page 2 of 4 •
.command at HQ. Simply.stated some of the things we are doing do not exist if you get my drift. It's a tough
position to be in, in regard to obtaining solid guidance..
When I made the call; I was in the position where I was being asked to do something that I felt was wrong
given what FBI agents can and can not do in the U.S. or overseas and was being asked to split my force .
.as well which made it even tougher on the non-supervisors agents in my team). All four of us 11 RnAITIP NiAni -
at that point thus my call directly to Harrington. Pri eking the call. I spoke with
2-3 times 9n the same day advising hi all. is new here like myself and doing the
es e can. I believe' 'trusted my judgement secure commo was'down on t was my
email and I was unable to explain the situation over the phone in an expeditious manner. was
out of the net working hard with . the military and'not available to discuss the issue. It was under these .
circumstances that I made the call. To be frank, I almost called Bald directly in that it was Bald and Bald
only that.made a deal with the CG re this assignment (resulting in secrecy surrounding this whole gig).
. .
At the present time we are supporting the military the very best we can given the interem guidance from
B eneral circumstancesj lare now forward at FSB Salerno supporting •
T hey will not/not leave the wire unless the policy changes. They are performing interrogations h6
at is ime as well the other investigative skill sets re investigative abilities that we bring to the table. The . 070
military is extreme! e are here and assisting them. After a number of talks with the J2 (Col Keller),
his replacemen the J2X and others, I agreed for our three agents to go forward.given that all
interrogations in ea er ave been restricted to FBI style "Direct Approach" interviews only (in other words
stress positions, sleep dep, dogs, diet are not being conducted at this time by military '
and contract interrogators}. Apparentl s discussing this matter with.Gen Abizade over the
next few days in order to analyze their own po icies. is very possible that within the next 24 to 48 hours . -.. . •
that this ban on aggressive interrogation methods is lifted and we are again co-located in areas where 1 Per DCD.
these methods are being employed. I ad ' J2 that if/when the banned tougher interviews
^
commence again, then we (4 FBI with T l• will reassess our participation in the unit. This is just
one more reason that FBIHQ needs to ge ou a policy ASAP! Something I know you appreciate and are
. pushing. .
. : . .• . . ••- -
Re interviews/interrogations, ALL FBI agents -in theater are in a tough position re this issue.. Bottom line.is •
that if we can't come back to the States and testify before congress on what we are doing over here then •
we shouldn't be doing it, Period. Although the interrogation techniques performed by the military are legally •
acceptable under the Geneva Convention (and should be after all this is WAR),.there are clear boundaries
re FBI participation in these matters. Pairing up with a military or contract interrogator who uses these •
techniques on the detainee, or being present in an area where they are commonly used, implicates the
'agent in the general interrogati9n plan. How many abused and/or dead detainees have been. periodically
interviewed by FBI agents during the course of their interrogations? When-aggressive techniques are
. applied on a detainee (known or unknown by the participating FBI agent) in the course of an interview, the
agent can still be held culpable in what happens to the detainee.

The question then comes down to how do we as the FBI participate in the interrogation process in this war.
A few things are clear; good cop (FBI) bad cop (military or contract interrogator) is an unacceptable method
and sets the agent up forpotential prosecution if something goes wrong in'the interrogation. Further, in my.
own opinion, it doesn't pass the ethics test for agents. My concern is that we are now conducting
interro ations/interviews in this war which are brin•'n• short term results for the milita however lead to
long term problems for the FBI.
To me the only viable option re FBI interviews in theater is that they take place under conditions where the •
detainee is interviewed by the FBI exclusively; where the detainee is provided to the FBI quickly after
capture or, directly on the objective (NOT after having been "softened up" by military interrogators) and '
interviewed by FBI agents only. Upon capture, the detainee is interviewed by the FBI. until which time he is
either released or turned over completely (and documented) to the military for further interrogation. This I
believe is the only approved course of action if the FBI wants .to continue with interviews in this war...
otherwise, we cease operations all together, or, we only conduct interviews on subjects directly related to
FBI cases or subjects with special conditions. I understand completely that this is not a perfect world ,
solution and makes thins ye tou•h on the milita es eclat! but we are •oin•to have understand
concern
070
that we are cart of the FBI and NOT the military.
Ranger. It is specifically challenging for me at TF
OGC—CTLU#2#9
as a former 10 year Army Officer and U.S. Army
iven that I personally know a number of these ..
bi Per DOD
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leaders very well to include ith whom I served,with for 2 years at the 2d Ranger Battalb 6
I completely support the FB mission i g anistan, and I know that good people have worked and
continue to work very hard to contribute here to the war effort, however, we have to realize that we have
limits given who we are as an organization and I have some very serious concerns as to what we are doing
here re the interrogation/interview process.
Two of the agents with me from the Fly Team have already been approached via email, by FBI inspectors
doing the internal FBI investigation on Abu G. prison in Iraq. Both agents have been queried as to what
• they saw and did in the prison. Both have concerns about what they observed in that prison. To date, both
military personnel and civilian contractors will be prosecuted as a result of abuses during interrogations at • .
Abu G. So far, humiliation photos of prisoners is small stuff....we are now looking at rape on video and "
homicide (confirmed by the J2' here at Bagram). At the Bagrarn detention facility there are also ongoing'
investigations that includes homicide investigations of 3 detainees, one ,of which involves a contract CIA
employee. WE CAN NOT PLACE FBI AGENTS IN A POSITION WHERE THEY CAN BE CULPABLE FOR
CRIMES AND/OR ABUSES (ALLEGED OR PROVEN) AND WE HAD BETTER FIGURE THIS THING
•OUT.QUICKLY SO.AS TO GIVE SOLID AND DEFINITIVE GUIDANCE TO AGENT AND LOW LEVEL
MANAGEMENT IN AFGHANISTAN WHO ARE DOING THEIR VERY BEST TO SUPPORT THIS
MISSION.
. As far as the chain of command goes, I Understand lare extremely busy and tied up on
their own matters and, have not always been available to assist in contributing to some of these timely
decisions. This is not their fault, they are simply busy as'hell and doing their jobs where the are located.
Comms are terrible and frustrating as hell (PAUSE) I just got off the, phone with
have expressed my concerns and he advised he will assist me in this situation as soon as posse e.
I have called 'daily and will continue to reach out to them re any issues. Due to matters they are
working, we have already deleyed'meeting face to face to discuss these issues now for 2 days.. Hopefully,
land I can meet this evening (5/18) if he is able to get a flight down to Bagraml I is scheduled to
.fly here tonight. • •
Last; for future reference if I .need an answer on something IMMEDIATELY I'm going to start calling. I will
start with nd make my way up the chain. I will'do everything in my power to keep issues at
your leve nment were less complicated I wouldn't need guidance at all....I would prefer not to
have to be in'this position and seek guidance. In the cases where there' is a lack of policy and guidance
. • will make decisions as an FBI supervisor based on my judgment and the information at my disposal. That's.
all I can do at this time. This is NOT your fault but it's the reality in which I am working with.

Aside from the email from Battle and' Ire interim guidance on investigations, which stated that we
as agents essentially use our best judgment regarding interviews, I have been given no guidance as to
how theBureau conducts interview/interrogations overseas as it relates to working with the military and
spedifically their hard approach techniques. (Let me qualify this with saying that) land I just talked
about this via" telcall and he advised me ttrat there is no written policy on the matter and only email traffic.)
•.b7C
b6
b7C:
The faster OGC give us definitive guidance on hov.v we conduct interviews in an environment where the
military conducts hard approach military interrogations, I may brar-ellposition soon where I make the
decision to pull chalks on the interview-part ofthis mission at TF e OGC guidance, to state that rt
is essentially on the back .of the interviewing agents to make decisions on their own is unacceptable. 1 Per DOD
Agents overseas in a war zone are guests of DOD and CIA and often find themselves in positions where
their limits and the limits of the military are not clear. Otherwise, as I have stated, we are setting our people
and the FBI up for failure in the future if we don't address this issue now. If I'm off base here then
somebody needs to say so
.
If you want to talk on the STU, I can be reached at the Bagram number ad ' workspace. It may b7 c
take a while for me to respond in that my work space is about 1/2 mile a way. Standing by for your.
response;
• Thanks
00c—CTLU2#9
10/26/2004
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::611/NOFORNHORCON
Please make certain po e-mails are sent directly to Frank Battle or Tom Harrington
and l lare the OSCs and all information back to HQ MUST.go through them.. I
understand your frustration and confusion, but until.we get clear Guidance from AD Bald, the three •
fly team Personne•and yourself are to get guidance from I I if you need to speak to b7C
HQ please follow this chain of command: .
. Thanks.

Doc_nid: 
11693
Doc_type_num: 
67