http://www.truth-out.org/news/item/30796-as-internal-documents-show-major-overreach-why-is-fbi-spying-on-opponents-of-keystone-xl-pipeline
[video in on-line article]
As Internal Documents Show Major Overreach, Why Is FBI Spying on
Opponents of Keystone XL Pipeline?
Thursday, 14 May 2015 00:00
By Amy Goodman and Juan González, Democracy Now! | Video Interview
A new report confirms for the first time that the FBI spied on activists
in Texas who tried to stop the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline.
Documents from the FBI reveal it failed to get approval before it
cultivated informants and opened its investigation, which was run from
its Houston field office. The files document "substantial
non-compliance" with Department of Justice rules. The Tar Sands Blockade
mentioned in that report was one of the main groups targeted by the FBI.
Agents in Houston office also told TransCanada they would share
"pertinent intelligence regarding any threats" to the company in advance
of protests. We are joined by Adam Federman, contributing editor to
Earth Island Journal and co-author of the new investigation published by
The Guardian, "Revealed: FBI violated its own rules while spying on
Keystone XL opponents." In February, he also revealed how the FBI has
recently pursued environmental activists in Texas, Pennsylvania, Oregon,
Washington and Idaho for "little more than taking photographs of oil and
gas industry installations."
TRANSCRIPT:
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: A new report confirms for the first time that the FBI
spied on activists in Texas who tried to stop the construction of the
Keystone XL pipeline. The report is based on FBI documents obtained by
The Guardian and the Earth Island Journal. The documents also reveal
that the FBI failed to get approval before it cultivated informants and
opened its investigation, which was run from its Houston field office.
The files document, quote, "substantial non-compliance" with Department
of Justice rules. Much of the FBI's surveillance took place between
November of 2012 and June 2014.
AMY GOODMAN: The Tar Sands Blockade mentioned in the report was one of
the main groups targeted by the FBI. Agents in Houston also told
TransCanada they would share, quote, "pertinent intelligence regarding
any threats" to the company in advance of protests.
For more, we are joined by Adam Federman, contributing editor to Earth
Island Journal, co-author of this new investigation that was published
by The Guardian. It's headlined "Revealed: FBI Violated Its Own Rules
While Spying on Keystone XL Opponents." In February, he also revealed
how the FBI has recently pursued environmental activists in Texas,
Pennsylvania, Oregon, Washington and Idaho for, quote, "little more than
taking photographs of oil and gas industry installations."
Adam Federman, thank you so much for joining us from Burlington,
Vermont. Talk about this most recent exposé. How do you know the FBI was
spying on those who are opposed to the Keystone XL?
ADAM FEDERMAN: Yeah, the recent investigation is based on more than 80
pages of documents that we obtained through a Freedom of Information Act
request. And the most striking thing about them is that they
demonstrated for the first time that the FBI opened an investigation
into anti-Keystone pipeline campaigners in Texas in 2012, late 2012, and
that investigation continued through 2013, despite the fact that it was
opened without proper approval from within the FBI. And what's
interesting about them is that they show extensive interest in Tar Sands
Blockade and activists organizing in Houston, particularly in, yeah,
neighborhoods in East Houston, where tar sands oil would eventually end
up at the refineries that are based there.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: And in terms of the most surprising revelations that you
found in these documents, could you talk about that?
ADAM FEDERMAN: Yeah, there are several. I mean, the fact that the
investigation was opened without proper approval is probably most
noteworthy. The FBI requires approval from legal counsel and a senior
agent for investigations that are described as sensitive, and those
include investigations into political or religious organizations, media
institutions, academic institutions, and basically they set a higher
threshold for opening an investigation. So, the fact that the Houston
domain failed to do that obviously violates agency protocol.
But I think, more broadly, the documents also sort of illuminate the
FBI's characterization of environmental organizations and activism in
the country. You know, the sort of opening salvo in the investigation is
a synopsis of what they call environmental extremism, and that sort of
undergirds the entire investigation and has also - you know, we've seen
the same sort of language used in other contexts, not just surrounding
Keystone pipeline.
AMY GOODMAN: Adam, many of the - looking at the quotes in the FBI
documents, they talk about, as you said, the environmental extremists
and say, quote, "Many of these extremists believe the debates over
pollution, protection of wildlife, safety, and property rights have been
overshadowed by the promise of jobs and cheaper oil prices. The Keystone
pipeline, as part of the oil and natural gas industry, is vital to the
security and economy of the United States." Can you explain these documents?
ADAM FEDERMAN: Yeah, I mean, that quote is really quite amazing for a
number of reasons. Mike German, a former FBI agent who's now at the
Brennan Center and who we worked with on this story, you know, said that
that characterization would include just about anyone who watches the
evening news. I mean, it's such a broad brush to tar - to describe
environmental activists as extremists simply for being concerned about
things like pollution, wildlife and property rights.
And then the FBI also goes on to claim that the Keystone pipeline is
vital to the national security and economy of the United States, which
of course is highly controversial and contested. And as I'm sure your
viewers know, the State Department is still deliberating over whether to
approve the northern leg of the pipeline itself. So that question
remains open; however, it seems that the FBI has taken it upon its own
to suggest that the pipeline is crucial to U.S. national security and
financial security.
JUAN GONZÁLEZ: I wanted to ask you about the 2010 intelligence bulletin
from the FBI Domestic Terrorism Analysis Unit that you obtained. It
warned that, even though the industry had encountered only low-level
vandalism and trespassing, recent "criminal incidents" suggested
environmental extremism was on the rise. The FBI concluded, quote,
"Environmental extremism will become a greater threat to the energy
industry owing to our historical understanding that some environmental
extremists have progressed from committing low-level crimes against
targets to more significant crimes over time in an effort to further the
environmental extremism cause."
ADAM FEDERMAN: Yeah, it's a fascinating document. And the story behind
how I obtained it is because of the fact that that very document was
used by the Pennsylvania Department of Homeland Security to justify
surveillance of anti-fracking groups in the state. And it essentially
captures the FBI's thinking on, you know, the threat of environmental
extremism to - specifically to the energy industry. And this is laid
out, as you say, in 2010, so I think that this is sort of the foundation
for the FBI's approach to the environmental movement more broadly. And I
think, with these more recent documents, we're seeing that sort of
carried out in real time. And we also know that the FBI has had
high-level meetings with TransCanada and that local and state law
enforcement along the pipeline route and in Pennsylvania and elsewhere
has actively investigated and spied on environmental activists of, you
know, all stripes. And it's quite systematic, and I do think that the
FBI is in many ways leading the charge.
AMY GOODMAN: You report the FBI's monitoring of Tar Sands Blockade
activists failed to follow proper protocols for more than eight months.
I want to read the FBI's response: quote, "While the FBI approval levels
required by internal policy were not initially obtained, once
discovered, corrective action was taken, non-compliance was remedied,
and the oversight was properly reported through the FBI's internal
oversight mechanism." That's what the FBI said, acknowledging they
didn't initially get approval. Adam, as we wrap up right now, if you can
talk about what - the legality of what the FBI did, in what you released
today in the Earth Island Journal and The Guardian, and also in your
past reporting on FBI spying on activists?
ADAM FEDERMAN: Well, I think, unfortunately, it's perhaps not the
exception that the FBI has opened an investigation without proper
approval. In 2011, the inspector general issued a report showing
widespread cheating on a test that was designed to prevent this very
kind of thing from happening. So it essentially demonstrates a lack of
internal control. But more broadly speaking, the question that I think
we need to be asking is whether the investigation, opened properly or
not, should have been conducted to begin with. I mean, Tar Sands
Blockade is committed to nonviolent civil disobedience. They've been
very open and transparent about their activism and work. And I think the
question is whether this investigation should have been opened to begin
with, and, quite frankly, if the FBI is actively investigating other
anti-Keystone pipeline activists or anti-fracking activists in other states.
AMY GOODMAN: Adam Federman, we want to thank you for being with us,
contributing editor to Earth Island Journal, where he covers the
intersection between law enforcement and the environment. He co-authored
the new investigation published by The Guardian, "Revealed: FBI Violated
Its Own Rules While Spying on Keystone XL Opponents." We'll link to that
story at democracynow.org.
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