February 11, 2019

EXCLUSIVE: FBI's War Crimes Unit and the International Human Rights Unit on the Chopping Block

EXCLUSIVE: FBI’s War Crimes Unit on the Chopping Block


https://www.justsecurity.org/62548/exclusive-fbis-war-crimes-unit-chopping-block/

A special unit within the Federal Bureau of Investigation that handles war crimes may be shut down imminently, according to officials familiar with the administration’s decision-making process. The FBI’s International Human Rights Unit takes the lead on investigating individuals within the United States who have been accused of committing international crimes, including war crimes, torture, genocide, female genital mutilation, and the recruitment of child soldiers. It also investigates international crimes committed against or by U.S. citizens abroad and enforces immigration statutes that can be invoked against abusers who cannot be prosecuted for their underlying crimes for whatever reason. The rationale for suddenly scaling back the United States’ commitment to investigating and prosecuting war criminals is unclear. President Donald Trump’s National Security Strategy recognizes the importance of the United States taking the lead on this imperative policy objective


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Together, these entities work to prevent the United States from becoming a safe haven for individuals who commit serious human rights abuses. In addition to focusing on perpetrators who make their way here, the FBI component also investigates situations in which Americans are either the victims or the perpetrators of atrocities overseas. In so doing, it leverages the FBI’s intelligence capabilities, vast network of field agents and analysts, and contacts within diaspora communities. It has also cultivated international partnerships with foreign law enforcement entities (such as Interpol), nongovernmental organizations, and others to research and build cases. Once developed, these dossiers can be handed off to domestic FBI field offices and the Justice Department for indictment and prosecution. The reality is that the Justice Department cannot succeed in its prosecutorial work without skilled and dedicated investigators to identify perpetrators, witnesses, and evidence within their fields of operation around the country.

The timing of this potential closure is surprising. This team of specialized units, working in conjunction with FBI field offices and state prosecutors, recently won a significant victory with the conviction of “Jungle Jabbah,” a ruthless warlord who committed atrocities—including cannibalism—in Liberia and was later found living comfortably in Pennsylvania. (See Just Security’s prior coverage here and here). Numerous other perpetrators of atrocities from Guatemala and the former Yugoslavia have also been successfully prosecuted based upon this Unit’s investigations. What’s more, attesting to his support for this work, President Trump finally succeeded in deporting Jakiw Palij, who is believed to be the last Nazi living in the United States—a diplomatic feat that Presidents Obama and Bush were not able to accomplish.

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If the FBI’s International Human Rights Unit is disbanded, its portfolio (but not the majority of the staff) will apparently shift to other Civil Rights Unit staff. The Civil Rights Unit is already fully engaged in their day jobs, pursuing violations of the federal civil rights statutes, particularly on behalf of vulnerable members of American communities. Saddling it with this additional responsibility threatens to jeopardize its core civil rights mission and deemphasize new war crimes cases. In addition, removing expertise from within the Bureau will undermine operations in the field when it comes to these most specialized of cases. Individual FBI field agents, however talented, rarely confront international cases in which crime scenes, physical evidence, and potential witnesses may all be overseas. Experts within the FBI’s International Human Rights Unit work up the cases and then, after handing them off, continue to provide support to investigators and prosecutors in the field, helping to link them with foreign counterparts, enable witness interviews, and connect to additional lead and background sources. New investigations will inevitably suffer absent this dedicated team of war crimes investigators.


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February 10, 2019

Ex-CIA agent: US allies fear Trump will leak classified intel to Putin

Ex-CIA agent: US allies fear Trump will leak classified intel to Putin

'Trump's actions are making us all less safe,' according to a 30-year veteran of the CIA.

https://shareblue.com/ex-cia-agent-us-allies-fear-trump-will-leak-classified-intel-to-putin/




In an alarming new op-ed published in the Washington Post, former CIA agent Steven Hall warns that Trump’s attacks on his own intelligence agencies have gotten so bad that his actions are threatening national security and “making us all less safe.” Hall, a CIA veteran who ran and managed Russian operations for more than 30 years, expressed his concern that Trump’s constant public attacks and hostility toward the intelligence community will not only harm morale among the workforce but will also damage America’s relationships with allied intelligence agencies.

“Many have already taken note of Trump’s cavalier attitude toward sensitive information, as well as his apparent failure to understand the basic rules of intelligence sharing,” he wrote. “Recall when our president shared sensitive intelligence obtained from one of our foreign partners with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, for example.” Trump’s carelessness and lack of regard for the sensitive nature of classified intelligence “will have a chilling effect” on intelligence sharing, Hall warned, noting that our allies likely fear he will leak sensitive information to Putin.

“I would be deeply surprised if many of our best intelligence allies were not already holding back information they would normally pass to their U.S. counterparts, for fear Trump might not be able to keep a secret,” Hall wrote. “Their concerns might even be darker when they consider the possibility that our president has reportedly discussed sensitive matters with Russian President Vladimir Putin behind closed doors with no record of the conversation,” he added.


Hall was referring to recent reports that Trump has withheld details of his previous talks with Putin from top officials in his administration, including confiscating notes from an interpreter who was present during one of the meetings.


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February 8, 2019

Ex-fed prosecutor: Whitaker only pulled out of hearing because he couldn't cite executive privilege

Ex-federal prosecutor reveals Whitaker only pulled out of hearing after he realized he couldn’t cite executive privilege


https://www.rawstory.com/2019/02/ex-federal-prosecutor-reveals-whitaker-pulled-hearing-realized-couldnt-cite-executive-privilege/





Former Federal Prosecutor Renato Mariotti explained he might know the reason acting Attorney General Matthew Whitaker pulled out of the Congressional hearing set for Friday. In a long Twitter thread, Mariotti said that House Judiciary Committee Chair Jerry Nadler (D-NY) gave Whitaker the questions he would be asked ahead of time. The goal being to explain none of the questions would apply to the executive privilege rules.

“Nadler did so because during the past two years when the GOP controlled Congress, Trump Administration officials would routinely refuse to answer questions without invoking executive privilege,” Mariotti said. “They did so knowing that Congressional Republicans wouldn’t compel their testimony.”

The former prosecutor explained that it isn’t “proper” to refuse due to executive privilege unless the president has formally proclaimed it. Nadler gave the question in advance to give Trump time to actually invoke the privilege. Whitaker couldn’t walk into the hearing and say he was surprised by the questions and couldn’t answer because the president needs time.

“Similarly, Nadler prepared to subpoena Whitaker in case Whitaker refused to answer any of the questions,” Mariotti continued. “A voluntary witness (as Whitaker was) can refuse to answer questions, but a witness appearing pursuant to a subpoena is required to testify. If Whitaker was subpoenaed and refused to answer questions at that point, Congress could refer him to the [Justice Department] for Contempt of Congress.”


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