ICYMI: Standards for Opening FBI Investigation So Low They Make Statistic Meaningless

[Razer]

HAHAHA! Federally-connected legal wonkblog!

>
> Department of Homeland Security Secretary John Kelly recently told an
> audience that terrorism is “as threatening today” as it was on 9/11.
> As evidence, he used the oft-repeated statistic that the FBI has
> active terrorism investigations in all 50 states. This claim has
> fueled public fear of terrorism because, by and large, the public
> believes that the FBI must have a reasonable factual basis to open an
> investigation. It does not. Instead, the standards for opening FBI
> inquiries are so unreasonably low that directors of the FBI have been
> reluctant to clearly articulate them in public.
>
> FBI Director James Comey testified on March 20 before the House
> Intelligence Committee about his agency’s investigation into whether
> the Trump campaign colluded with the Russian government to influence
> the 2016 presidential election. Lawmakers asked Comey seven separate
> times about the FBI’s standard for opening an investigation. One such
> question came from Rep. Mike Turner, a Republican from Ohio, who asked
> whether the FBI needed “some action or information”—besides a record
> that an individual attended a meeting, was paid to appear at a
> conference, or traveled abroad—before opening an FBI
> counterintelligence investigation.
>
> Comey responded, saying that there are a “couple different [standards]
> at play.” Elaborating, he said...
>
>
More. With links:
https://www.justsecurity.org/40451/standards-opening-fbi-investigation-statistic-meaningless/