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Re stories about FBI having had Todd Yetman under surveillance for an extended period prior to the day they tried to arrest him...

I have seen this patter in the discovery on many of my J6 clients.

Frankly it shocks me how often they have done this.

In 21+ years as an AUSA I can think of maybe 4-6 times when either FBI or DEA maintained ongoing surveillance of a defendant prior to arrest. It was always because of fear the subject was aware of their impending arrest, and had resources to flee and a place to go.

In these J6 cases I see it being done to people who have no idea they are being investigated. Two of my clients were never even visited by the FBI prior to their arrest.

Yet the FBI Field Offices are WASTING MAN HOURS — hundreds of them — following J6 subjects around for weeks/months for no particular purpose.

EXCEPT — and this is ALWAYS on the list of unspoken reasons — the man-hours devoted to surveillance by Agents and SSG personnel is a stat that justifies higher budget authorization for the next fiscal year.

Getting bigger budgets and more resources is a never-ending exercise in the Govt, and the FBI is no different. They had dozens of measurable “metrics” by which Field Office productivity is measured. Having Agents sit on their ass in the office is not one of them.

Making “spot checks” on a susject’s residence, or following them around in the morning to see what patterns there are get those agents out of the office and into a stat column.

What is SSG?

Special Surveillance (?) Groups.

These are non-agents — not gun carriers — employed to conduct surveillance. They follow you around with a camera and document your travels and habits.

They do not operate out of FBI Offices — they have “off-site” offices that are leased in the name of shell-companies. It’s really just a place for them to gather and organize, and do some paperwork at the end of the day. They dress like anyone going to the grocery store, they never make contact with any subject, and they never ID themselves or what they are doing.

SSG’s follow people around. J6 subjects give them a long list of things to keep them busy on a daily/weekly basis, and the FBI management in the Field Office they work in can say at the end of the year “We need approval of another SSG squad for next year.”

It almost beyond comical.

https://nitter.poast.org/shipwreckedcrew/status/1723714313867722985