FBI Informants Given Green Light to Break the Law

Photo Credit: GOP USAThe FBI gave informants permission to break the law at least 5,658 times in one year, according to newly disclosed documents that show how often the nation’s top law enforcement agency enlists criminals to help it battle crime.

The Justice Department ordered the FBI to begin tracking crimes by its informants more than a decade ago, after the agency admitted that it had allowed Boston mobster James “Whitey” Bulger to operate a brutal crime ring in exchange for information about the Mafia. The FBI submits that tally to top Justice Department officials each year but has never before made it public.

Agents authorized 15 crimes a day on average — from drug sales to bribery and plotting robberies. FBI officials have said that permitting informants, who are often criminals, to break the law is an indispensable part of investigating criminal organizations.

“It sounds like a lot, but you have to keep it in context,” said Shawn Henry, who supervised criminal investigations for the FBI until he retired last year. “It’s not taken lightly.”

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