Washington – Group Representing FBI Agents Warns Of Harm From Shutdown

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    U.S. federal government employees, contract workers and other demonstrators march during a 'Rally to End the Shutdownâ 'in Washington, U.S., January 10, 2019. REUTERS/Kevin LamarqueWashington – The association that represents thousands of FBI agents warned Thursday that a partial government shutdown could cause laboratory delays, reduce money for investigations and make it harder to recruit and retain agents.

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    The FBI Agents Association sent a petition to the White House and congressional leaders encouraging them to fund the FBI immediately. Friday will be the first day that the nearly 13,000 special agents will miss their paychecks.

    “This is not about politics for special agents. For special agents, financial security is national security,” Tom O’Connor, the association’s president, told reporters in a conference call.

    Nearly 5,000 special agents, intelligence analysts, and technical and professional staff are furloughed. Those absences mean FBI operations are understaffed and subject to delays, including at the FBI lab. And the lapse in funding means fewer tools, such as informants or undercover operations, are available for investigations.

    “We have people that are not being able to come to work, which means they’re not able to do the work,” O’Connor said. “Which means we’re going to have a backlog.”

    O’Connor also said the shutdown may cause delays in agents being able to get or renew security clearances, potentially disqualifying some agents from continuing to participate in certain cases. He said it could make it harder to recruit and retain agents who could find better-paying or more stable jobs outside the government.

    The association has more than 14,000 active-duty and retired special agent members.


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    3 Comments
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    yaakov doe
    Member
    yaakov doe
    5 years ago

    Don’t these FBI agents understand that the President is trying to protect them from hordes of women and children flooding across our borders?

    qazxc
    qazxc
    5 years ago

    FAKE NEWS!!! FAKE NEWS!!!

    Most FBI agents are illegal immigrants who voted for Hillary Clinton and hate America.

    Besides, BENGHAZZI!!!

    5 years ago

    The FBI doesn’t protect us, even when they are working; for example, it failed to protect us from the terrorists on 9/11/01. Its field agents had repeatedly warned FBI headquarters about the Arabs taking flying lessons, without wanting to learn how to land a plane. However, headquarters rebuffed those agents, and refused to have search warrants applied for. They could have stopped the 9/11 plot in its tracks, before it took place, had there been leadership with a backbone, at the top. If J. Edgar Hoover was in charge at that time, he would have fired those negligent and incompetent agents at the top. To this date, not one of them was ever held accountable for their foul-up.