Posted on 08/11/2018 6:11:58 PM PDT by marktwain
Instead of electronically recording its interviews and interrogations, the FBIs policy is to rely on agents typewritten section 302 reports, crafted to reflect the supposed substance of the exchange. At such sessions, one agent takes notes by hand while the second agentin the traditional two-agent FBI interviewing teamconducts the interview/interrogation. Tape recordings are almost never done because such recordation is believe it or not against formal written FBI policy. Therefore, the 302 report becomes the sole arbiter of what was, and was not, said; moreover, as we will see below, any interviewee who contests its accuracy risks prosecution. Hence, a potential witness script is written and not necessarily by the witness himself the moment he opens his mouth in the presence of an agent.
On its face, and in an era where digital recording has become ubiquitous, there seems to be little justification for a policy of not recording interviews. Paul K. Charlton, a now-former US Attorney in Arizona, certainly thought so when he broke ranks and ordered the mandatory recording of any statements from an investigative target in cases undertaken by his office. Charltons policy was resisted, and he was fired soon after instituting it. The FBIs general counsels office produced an internal memorandum (PDF), later made public by the New York Times, listing four separate justifications for the non-recording policy. Two of these arguments, it turns out, are weak, a third is laughably weak, and a fourth is terrifying in its practical implications for the fair, and truthful, functioning of the federal system of criminal justice.
Consider, to begin, the two merely weak arguments (all quotations regarding the policy below taken from the FBIs internal memorandum (PDF)):
(Excerpt) Read more at forbes.com ...
One of the reasons given for the policy: Recorded interviews might lead jurors to believe the FBI was coercive or misleading.
If the FBI ever asks to interview you, just tell them you’ll be recording the whole thing.
In my personal experience with an FBI interview, I was told exactly that.
I wanted to record it. They said if I did, there would be no interview.
total lies, They record EVERYTHING!! Ask Martha Stewart!! This is such BS!!
total lies, They record EVERYTHING!! Ask Martha Stewart!! This is such BS!!
Quite a bit of difference between surreptitious recording and recording interviews.
That’s a good way at least to kibosh the interview....
Yes the best way to shut a FBI agent down is to have a recorder.
Uh, they didn’t record Hillary...
Most leo agencies dont want to be recorded ...not just fbi
IRS often wont talk to you either if you insist on recording them
I know there are plenty of good cops but the system in general is generally f*cked and geared at success via intimidation ...if for one year every single person charged with a crime demanded and went to trial the syatem would completely collapse...which leads me to the conclusion we have far too many laws.
I would want my own recorder and my own recording, truth be told.
A lot of truth in your post.
The policy gives the FBI control over what is remembered and how it is remembered. It is an extremely powerful tool that puts most of the cards in the FBI's pockets.
But if the new agency will be just as bad, there is no reason to change, is there?
How about we require the FBI to record interviews, maybe wear body cameras?
So did you tell them you still wanted to record it?
What happens if, failing to have a recording device, one refuses to talk to agents?
No.
I wanted to give them some information after 9/11.
So I did not insist on a recording.
Could of done it surreptitiously, of course.
You tell them no. They go away.
Thank you.
What a joke they dont record my ass. They only one they didnt record IN HISTORY was hillary!! Because they obstructed justice!! And those that fixed that felons case should spend life in prison.
“Tape recordings are almost never done because such recordation is believe it or not against formal written FBI policy. “
Apparently they didn’t read their link FBI policy memo they referenced and linked.
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