FBI Agent Fans Flames With Charge
By: Todd Lighty
Tribune staff reporter
Published May 30, 2002
A veteran FBI agent in Chicago is accusing his supervisors of mishandling terrorism investigations and is suggesting that the bureau be stripped of such responsibilities.
In what could amount to an unusual public spat between an active-duty agent and the bureau, Robert Wright Jr. plans to air his complaints Thursday during a news conference in Washington.
"The FBI has proven for the past decade it cannot identify and prevent acts of terrorism against the United States and its citizens at home and abroad," Wright wrote in a statement he shared with the agency weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks.
In it, he also said a top-to-bottom review should be conducted of the bureau's hiring procedures, mission, investigative procedures and organizational structure.
Wright's planned news conference follows an announcement Wednesday by U.S. Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft that the FBI will undergo a broad reorganization of its "structure, culture and mission."
Wright, an agent since 1990, has had other public battles with colleagues and the bureau.
He has been investigated for allegedly harassing an Arab-American agent and for allegedly sexually harassing a female agent.
Wright filed a lawsuit in June 2001 against the female agent, alleging that her "false and malicious" charges resulted in his removal from the International Terrorist Squad. A U.S. District Court judge last October dismissed the lawsuit.
This month, Wright sued the bureau for blocking publication of a 500-page book about what he described as bungled investigations during the 1990s into fundraising by militant Islamic groups such as Hamas.
Agent John Vincent, a 27-year veteran, said the fact that Wright has had run-ins with co-workers and disagreed with his supervisors does not make him disloyal.
"Agent Wright is not a disgruntled employee," Vincent said. "Everything he has said is for the betterment of the job."
Wright is being represented by lawyer David Schippers, who served as the chief investigative counsel for the House Judiciary Committee during the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, and by Judicial Watch, a Washington-based public interest law firm that often sues the government.
Schippers could not be reached for comment. But Tom Fitton, president of Judicial Watch, said Wright has repeatedly made his concerns known to supervisors about how the bureau allegedly mishandled terrorism investigations.
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