Internal Reports Show FBI Employees Stepping Over the Line

WASHINGTON -- In an agency with thousands of employees, some in the FBI are bound to step over the line.

CNN obtained summaries of internal disciplinary reports by the agency's Office of Professional Responsibility dating back to January 2008. The reports detail wrongdoing by employees including lying, drunken driving, improperly going into FBI databases, sexual assault and threatening to release a sexual videotape. Discipline ranged from a letter of censure to dismissal.

The documents, which are regularly circulated internally to FBI employees to remind them to avoid ethical lapses, were posted on CNN's website.

FBI spokesman Paul Bresson, responding to questions from AOL News, noted that the total number of employees disciplined for misconduct in the past three years represented less than 1.5 percent of the total work force worldwide.

"The FBI is an enormously talented organization that demands the very best of its work force and takes strong and decisive disciplinary action when it is needed," he said.

Here are some of the cases, according to the documents.

An FBI employee provided "sensitive information" to his girlfriend, who was a reporter. After their breakup, he threatened to release a sex tape the two had made, according to the documents. She referred the threats to the U.S. attorney's office. The employee also lied under oath during an administrative inquiry. He resigned after the agency proposed firing him.
An FBI employee conducted more than 1,500 unauthorized database searches and shared information derived from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act with someone outside the FBI. The employee refused to provide a sworn statement during the investigation into the matter and was fired.
An employee sexually assaulted his granddaughter and adopted daughter and was fired.
An employee had a sexual relationship with a source, including liaisons in an FBI car. He "lacked candor" during an administrative inquiry and was fired.
An employee used an "overly aggressive and confrontational technique" that prompted someone from another agency to end the interview of a witness. "During the witness interview, the FBI employee struck the wall close to the interviewee's head, creating a dent in the wall. ... The employee's actions damaged the bureau's reputation and relations with another law enforcement agency and had a negative impact upon relationships with the local community." He was suspended for 45 days.
During a polygraph exam, an employee acknowledged conducting unauthorized searches of FBI databases on "hot" celebrities and sharing the information with co-workers. The person also searched a law enforcement database to find information about two co-workers' boyfriends and shared the information. The action resulted in a 30-day suspension.
An employee on three different occasions "misused his position for private gain" and asked to have his seat upgraded on a plane to first class. "The employee attempted to play upon the flight attendants' post 9/11 fears by stating that he should be in first class between the cockpit and any potential threat," the report said. He received a seven-day suspension.
An employee drove past a traffic stop and yelled "Rodney King." He then momentarily lost control of the car and swerved in the oncoming lane and nearly struck a police officer. When the cops pulled him over, he "immediately displayed his FBI credentials." During an administrative inquiry into the matter, he claimed he yelled "Geez Louise." He also was rude to the officers and failed "to acknowledge his unprofessional behavior." He was fired.
An employee misused a government database to conduct "name checks" on two friends who were foreign nationals working as exotic dancers. "Employee also failed to report his contact with foreign nationals and brought the two friends into FBI space after hours without proper authorization," the report said. The report also said that the employee had a prior suspension for unauthorized used of a government database. He was suspended for 23 days.
An employee sold several guns illegally over the Internet and possessed illegal firearms in violation of state and federal laws, including a AR-15 assault rifle.