There are many books, TV shows, and movies about once-revered FBI agents portaying them as heroes.  But after revelations concerning Donald Trump, Richard Jewell (accused of the Atlanta Olympic bombing), and well-respected journalist Sharyl Attkisson, people might be reconsidering. Maybe FBI should stand for Fear, Beware, and Intimidate, while DoJ, the parent company, should stand for Department to Obstruct Justice.  Granted, many do their jobs well, but the leaders at the top are definitely suspect to having an agenda. 

American Thinker had the privilege of interviewing Sharyl Attkisson, a whistleblower of sorts, about her reaction to the current climate regarding the FBI/DoJ and the lawsuit she filed. She is an investigative reporter who hosts the syndicated TV news series “Full Measure,” as well as an author publishing a new book that details the death of news, to be released right after the election.  

As a CBS investigative reporter, Attkisson worked on the Fast and Furious and Benghazi scandals that occurred under the Obama Administration.  In 2011, government agencies began to monitor her for having the audacity to dig into the facts of these fiascos. Using the curtain of national security, the DoJ went on the offensive, including a playbook to actively target journalists with electronic surveillance.  Tasked to carry out these investigations was the FBI.

During this time, Attkisson noticed anomalies in numerous electronic devices in her home, specifically on a CBS-issued Toshiba laptop computer and a family Apple iMac desktop computer. On April 3, 2013, Attkisson filed a complaint with the DoJ Inspector General regarding these incidents of suspected government electronic surveillance and cyberstalking. On May 6, 2013, an official with the DoJ’s Inspector General office called Attkisson back, stating that the FBI denied any knowledge of any operations involving her computers or phone lines. Fed up with the DoJ and FBI’s stalling and avoidance tactics, Attkisson filed a lawsuit in 2015 suing the DoJ and Postal Service for alleged “unauthorized and illegal surveillance” of her laptops and phones between 2011 and 2013. Unfortunately, this lawsuit was dismissed without prejudice for failing to expressly name the government spies and conspirators who hacked her computers and remotely planted classified information.

But not to be deterred, she filed a new lawsuit in January using, in part, information provided by one of the former federal agents who has now confessed to being part of the government’s spy operation against her and many other U.S. citizens. Former Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein is accused of leading “a multi-agency task force in Baltimore that conducted surveillance of the Attkisson’s’ computer systems” and “used USPS IP addresses on other occasions to conduct operations.” The complaint states that four additional defendants, “agents and/or employees of the United States Government working with Rosenstein” conducted “the unlawful surveillance and hacking of the computer systems of the Plaintiffs.”

In other words, under Rosenstein’s supervision, a multi-agency government spying unit in Baltimore, without court-ordered warrants, used government proprietary spyware and a mysterious United States Postal Service internet domain against Attkisson. Even classified documents were planted on her computer.

How did Attkisson know her computer was being surveilled? She had not one, but five independent forensic exams that uncovered the remote surveillance, including government IP addresses, and found out they had listened in on her computer microphone and monitored her keystrokes.  Also, in 2013, CBS reported that a cybersecurity firm hired by them “has determined through forensic analysis that Attkisson's computer was accessed by an unauthorized, external, unknown party on multiple occasions in late 2012.  Evidence suggests this party performed all access remotely using Attkisson's accounts."

She commented, “After that CBS announcement about the computer intrusions, I don’t think they’ve covered the story since, though they said they were behind me 1000% and would leave no stone unturned to identify the criminals.  If the Trump Administration had been accused of spying on American journalists and other U.S. citizens, it would have become national headlines.” 

In fact, left-wing smear groups like Media Matters initially called her paranoid, crazy, and have tried to discredit her. After the new lawsuit was filed January 9, there were some print news reports on the revelations, but not much more. “Even after gathering indisputable forensics and a confession from one of the federal agents who surveilled me, some still do not treat it as news. It has to be emphasized this isn’t important because it happened to me; it’s important because it happened to hundreds of U.S. citizens. That should matter.”

Does she believe that the FBI/DoJ are agencies gone wild with an agenda? She replied, “there are some good people at the FBI, such as the ones who first alerted what was being done to me and other Americans. They were horrified about what the government was doing. But they see that insiders get smacked down when they speak up, while nothing happens to the bad guys.”

An example she gave of this double standard is an expert on Twitter who recently expressed outrage over reports of the possible surveillance of an American ambassador in Ukraine, but quickly dismissed the government’s surveillance of Sharyl in America. She noted, “He complained about how bad it was that the former ambassador to Ukraine might have been surveilled. In a tweet, I suggested that all improper government surveillance is disturbing. He answered that what happened to me is no comparison to what might have happened to the ambassador in a foreign country. He totally missed the point of how chilling it is that our own Department of Justice -- the nation’s lead law enforcement body -- has abused its power and illegally surveilled innocent U.S. citizens. It is a violation of our Constitutional rights and law.”

Rod Rosenstein should be a familiar name considering he was the one who supposedly volunteered to wear a wire to entrap those in the Trump Administration. She noted, “It never made sense to me that he joked about wearing a wire.  It is not a joke. He is not ideological, but is power driven.  He wants the control for his own best interests and not on behalf of the people.”

Another person named in her lawsuit is Shawn Henry, the former FBI executive assistant director of the cyber branch who now is president of CrowdStrike Services, based in Baltimore. Could third parties be assisting the government in illegal surveillance operations? What is almost laughable is what he had told American Thinker a few years back, “There is not this grand conspiracy to violate people’s civil liberties.  The government is not that efficient.  People employed in national security agencies did so to serve our country, not to read people’s e-mails.  The FBI and the government cannot troll the internet unless there is a reason, and they need a search warrant, which authorizes any review of communications.  There are more restrictions of the government’s ability to scroll for information than is readily available to individuals and private companies.” Right -- just ask Sharyl Attkisson, who had her computer surveilled without a warrant or legitimate reason.

Maybe more believable is what he said to American Thinker in another article, “An adversary has access to computer networks and can steal all the data.  The integrity of the data can be changed and manipulated.” In other words, Americans beware considering how powerful is a judge, politician, the press, or law enforcement. Follow the pattern: Rosenstein had his task force based in Baltimore; Shawn Henry’s firm is based in Baltimore; and the firm CBS used to find forensic evidence is also based in Baltimore.

Sharyl believes, “Based on my experience so far, I have come to think that there is no guarantee of justice in our system for ordinary citizens like me, even when we have indisputable evidence.  Those who have the power, money, and ability to game the system have the advantage. A big corporation or the government can squash an individual by bankrupting them with legal costs or obstructing and delaying, so that a case can never be heard by a jury.”

Speaking of squashing, it is very interesting how relevant records to Sharyl’s case have apparently been destroyed.  “Last fall, we asked the CBS cyber firm for the forensic documents regarding the computer intrusions. CBS had promised in writing to preserve everything. But we were told the documents no longer exist. Likewise, when we asked the U.S. Post Office for records relevant to the government IP addresses used to access my computers, they too had purged the information.”

What she wants Americans to understand is this: “I still think this is worth the fight.  Even though we have airtight evidence, it might never see the light of day because it is about who has the most money and power. But my goal is to get all the information out there and hope it makes it harder for illicit government spying to continue against innocent Americans.” 

It is a sad day when the agencies and institutions that were once so respected have such black marks against them.  Americans should think about what happened to Sharyl and view it as a warning sign.  She is not fighting for herself, but for all Americans.  Anyone that wants to help can go to her GoFundMe page because she is financing this costly litigation on her own.

The author writes for American Thinker.  She has done book reviews and author interviews and has written a number of national security, political, and foreign policy articles.