FBI Agents Can Pose as Journalists, Inspector General Says

This really concerns me. It’s hard enough as it is to get sources to trust me sometimes, particularly when the source is a hacker. Now the DOJ has just fueled distrust by saying FBI agents can pose as journalists.

Alan Neuhauser reports:

FBI agents may impersonate journalists while conducting undercover investigations, and an agent who posed as an editor with the Associated Press during a 2007 investigation did not violate agency policies, the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General found in a report released Thursday.

The conclusion sparked consternation across social media by journalists, civil rights groups and some legal experts, who have argued that the practice – by its very existence – threatens to heighten public mistrust of reporters, damage journalists’ credibility and have a chilling effect on sources and whistleblowers who may fear that their contacts in the media are actually undercover agents.