By Erika Icon
YNOT – Not all the suits at the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation are as squeaky-clean as their conservative outer trappings might indicate. According to internal reports obtained by CNN, FBI employees have been using their government-issued BlackBerrys to send smutty messages and naked photos to coworkers.
And that’s not all. According to CNN, some have received sexual favors at massage parlors while on duty, and one reportedly engaged in a long-term personal relationship with a known drug dealer. Another committed check fraud multiple times, then lied under oath about the misdeeds. One left his FBI-issued gun, laptop and camera in his government-issued car, only to have the car broken into and the items stolen. Yet another bugged his supervisor’s office in order to build evidence for a defamation lawsuit. Many of the most egregious offenders received suspensions or terminations as punishment.
The FBI isn’t the first federal agency to engage in frat-boy behavior. Last year, according to multiple media reports, agents from the Secret Service and Drug Enforcement Administration solicited hookers in Columbia. Central Intelligence Agency Director David Petraeus resigned after a reports surfaced about his long-time illicit affair with biographer Paula Broadwell.
The latest news about the FBI was unearthed in confidential quarterly reports that were sent to all FBI personnel, apparently in an attempt to cut off misconduct at the pass.
Oops. So much for confidentiality.
It’s the sexting that seems most vexing for the FBI.
“We’re hoping [that] getting the message out in the quarterlies is going to teach people, as well as their supervisors … you can’t do this stuff,” FBI Assistant Director Candice Will told CNN. “When you are given an FBI BlackBerry, it’s for official use. It’s not to text the woman in another office who you found attractive or to send a picture of yourself in a state of undress. That is not why we provide you an FBI BlackBerry.”
The FBI employs about 36,000 people, most of whom probably didn’t find themselves or their officemates in the “confidential” reports. From 2010 to 2012, a total of only 1,045 employees were disciplined.
