FBI “Assessments”: Cato FOIA Lawsuit Edition

Patrick G. EddingtonWhen is an FBI investigation not, according to the FBI, an investigation? When the non ‐​investigation investigation is categorized, per the FBI Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (DIOG), as an “Assessment”–a bureaucratic exercise in legerdemain made possible by the 2008rewrite of the Attorney General ’s Guidelines on Domestic FBI Operations. Here’s the relevant paragraph on “Assessments” from the AG Guidelines (p. 17):You read that correctly: the FBI can open an “Assessment” on any individual or organization without a criminal predicate.And as a  Brennan Centerfact sheet on FBI investigation types notes, by opening an “Assessment”, the FBI can “recruit informants to monitor the subject, question people without revealing the agent’s identity, search commercial and government databases, and conduct physical surveillance of a person’s public movements.”There are also at least five different kinds of “Assessments”, as this extract from the DIOG lays out:Notice the broad powers granted to investigate persons and organizations, the authorization to collect and retain data, etc. All without having hard evidence that someone has or is about to commit an actual federal crime. This is authority to conduct domestic surveillance “fishing expeditions” on people or groups engaged in constitutionally protected speech and advocacy.Through the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), Cato has obtained examples of “Assessm...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - Category: American Health Authors: Source Type: blogs