After Pressure from FBI, Scheduled “Whistleblower” Will Only Answer (Some) Questions at Midwinter

Norman Oder -- Library Journal, 1/10/2008

·        Agent planned to discuss FBI failures

·        Highest-ranking Arab-American agent also whistleblower

·        Attorney calls it FBI “censorship”

It sounded like a coup for the American Library Association. Bassem Youssef, the Chief of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) unit responsible for administering two warrantless search programs, and the FBI’s highest-ranking Arab-American agent, was to speak Saturday at the ALA’s Midwinter Meeting in Philadelphia, “expected to discuss a number of critical failures within the FBI’s counterterrorism program, which undermine basic Constitutional rights of American citizens and threaten the effectiveness of America’s counterterrorism efforts.”

Not so fast. Now that the FBI has placed new limits on Youssef’s presentation, he will only answer selected questions. Today ALA Washington Office Executive Director Emily Sheketoff got a letter (which ALA publicized) from Youssef’s lawyer, indicating that the FBI, which had approved Bassem Youssef’s participation, was having second thoughts once it saw the content of the ALA press release. Lawyer Stephen Kohn explained that the FBI warned Youssef against making such a presentation and sent the agent “a multi-page document which set forth various rules concerning pre-publication clearance of any potential speech.”

Kohn suggested that the FBI had changed its guidelines and called it censorship: “However, these rules are not the formal rules which the FBI has previously published and/or incorporated into its employment agreement. Instead, the rules provided to Mr. Youssef are secret in nature.  Mr. Youssef is prevented from showing these rules to anyone outside the FBI.  In other words, the rules constitute secret censorship requirements applicable to FBI agents for which the public is not permitted to read.” 

Though “Youssef clearly has a First Amendment right to express his opinions on matters of public concern,” Kohn wrote, he has advised the agent to participate in a Q&A format “consistent with the prior written approval provided by the FBI.” However, Kohn warned, “I may have to object to questions and/or potential answers provided by Mr. Youssef if I believe that a response to a question could result in Mr. Youssef violating FBI rules.” He described Youssef’s position as “very difficult,” given that the “Department of Justice has already issued a report finding that Mr. Youssef was illegally retaliated against by the FBI for engaging in protected whistleblower activity.”