This ex-klansman was sentenced earlier this month to life in prison after being found guilty of four counts of murder for the 1963 bombing of a black Birmingham church. The withholding of evidence from Attorney Janet Reno that the bureau used incendiary devices in the 1993 raid on the Branch Davidian compound Failing to turn over internal memos to Congress in 1999 that suggested nuclear scientist Wen Ho Lee had not passed secret information to the Chinese, as had been alleged. Rogue elements in the agency operate as if they are above the very Constitution they have sworn to uphold. These are the types of cultural norms were established by the bureau's legendary founder, J. Edgar Hoover. One only has to recall that in the early 1990s the agency used a female informant to provide former Washington, D.C., Mayor Marion Barry with a nearly lethal dose of crack cocaine in order to prove that he used illegal drugs.
Old habits die hard in both humans and organizations.
Sen. Grassley has offered two proposals that would make the agency more accountable. First, he has recommended that the FBI have its own Inspector General. History shows that the FBI can't police itself so it should be monitored by a full-time investigative body that reports to Congress and can file charges in federal court. Grassley's rationale is that other FBI employees are aware of ongoing illegal activities but don't come forward because they fear retaliation. Here, the whistleblower gets up to 25 percent of the judgement if the case is successful.