Obviously, in the wake of the attacks of Sept. 11, it stands to reason that an administration that wasn’t taking the terrorist threat seriously would have to undergo a serious transformation. Particularly at an agency like the FBI, agents would have to be reassigned and be given new priorities to address the new national focus.
But the change was not without consequence. The Justice Department shifted towards national security and away from, well, everything else.
Thousands of white-collar criminals across the country are no longer being prosecuted in federal court — and, in many cases, not at all — leaving a trail of frustrated victims and potentially billions of dollars in fraud and theft losses.
It is the untold story of the Bush administration’s massive restructuring of the FBI after the terrorism attacks of 9/11.
Five-and-a-half years later, the White House and the Justice Department have failed to replace at least 2,400 agents transferred to counterterrorism squads, leaving far fewer agents on the trail of identity thieves, con artists, hatemongers and other criminals.
Two successive attorneys general have rejected the FBI’s pleas for reinforcements behind closed doors.
While there hasn’t been a terrorism strike on American soil since the realignment, few are aware of the hidden cost: a dramatic plunge in FBI investigations and case referrals in many of the crimes that the bureau has traditionally fought, including sophisticated fraud, embezzlement schemes and civil rights violations.
“Politically, this trade-off has been accepted,” said Charles Mandigo, a former FBI congressional liaison who retired four years ago as special agent in charge in Seattle. “But do the American people know this trade-off has been made?”
They almost certainly do not. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer’s article on this is absolutely one of those must-read/read-the-whole-thing items detailing federal prosecutions since the 9/11 attacks. The results aren’t encouraging.
* Overall, the number of criminal cases investigated by the FBI nationally has steadily declined. In 2005, the bureau brought slightly more than 20,000 cases to federal prosecutors, compared with about 31,000 in 2000 — a 34 percent drop.
* White-collar crime investigations by the bureau have plummeted in recent years. In 2005, the FBI sent prosecutors 3,500 cases — a fraction of the more than 10,000 cases assigned to agents in 2000. […]
* Civil rights investigations, which include hate crimes and police abuse, have continued a steady decline since the late 1990s. FBI agents pursued 65 percent fewer cases in 2005 than they did in 2000.
“There’s a niche of fraudsters that are floating around unprosecuted,” said one recently retired top FBI official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “They are not going to jail. There is no law enforcement solution in sight.”
Dale Watson, who left in 2002 as the FBI’s executive assistant director over counterterrorism programs, explained that when the agency started working on its 2007 budget about two years ago, it realized that it wouldn’t cut back on counter-terrorism, so it had to cut back elsewhere. Bank fraud, investment fraud, ID theft — cases that protect the financial infrastructure of the country — were going to be neglected.
This isn’t just a question of justice and unpunished criminals; there’s also a financial cost for the country. FBI Assistant Director Chip Burrus acknowledged that there is “no question” that the country’s financial losses from unprosecuted crimes amounts to literally billions of dollars. The top security official for a major American bank agreed, saying unprosecuted fraud losses easily total “multibillions.”
One leading Democrat, Sen. Joe Biden of Delaware, introduced legislation in February that aims to address the problem. The bill calls for hiring 1,000 agents at a cost of $160 million a year.
“There’s no doubt that fighting terrorism should be a top priority for the FBI, but we can’t forget about the risk to our neighborhoods from everyday crime,” Biden told the P-I.
“To add insult to injury, President Bush hasn’t replaced the FBI agents who transitioned over from working criminal cases to counterterrorism,” he said. “The FBI is at a breaking point. … They’re overworked and overburdened and, frankly, they need some relief.”
Another mess the next president is going to have clean up. Add it to the list.