FBI Leaves Open Possibility Of Using Fake Journo

WASHINGTON (AP) — FBI Director James Comey left open the possibility Tuesday that an agent might again pose as a journalist as part of an investigation, though he said such a tactic ought to be rare and “done carefully with significant supervision, if it’s going to be done.”

Comey told reporters at a roundtable discussion that he was “not willing to say never” when asked if the FBI would swear off future use of the tactic in response to an Associated Press demand last month.

The AP sought assurances from the Justice Department and the FBI that impersonation would not be used again following revelations that an agent in Seattle posed as an AP journalist in 2007 during an investigation into bomb threats at a high school.

“I’m not willing to say never,” Comey said.

In the Seattle case, details of which Comey revealed in a letter to the New York Times, an FBI agent posed as a reporter to help catch a 15-year-old suspect. The agent asked the suspect to review a fake AP article about threats and cyber-attacks directed at the school to ensure “that the anonymous suspect was portrayed fairly.” The article contained a software tool that could verify Internet addresses. The suspect clicked on a link, revealing his computer’s location and Internet address, which helped agents confirm the suspect’s identity.