(ThePatriotWire)- According to a 2021 study by Open the Books, the federal government recently paid informants more than $548 million. That’s over a half billion in tax money!
Additionally, the FBI gave $42 million a year to its “confidential human sources.”
We are familiar with a few of the more well-known FBI agents.
Crack cocaine user Stephan Halper received over $1.05 million in payment to spy on Trump associates and assist in fabricating the Trump-Russia conspiracy.
Out of 15, at least 12 informants were used by the FBI to plan, organize, finance, and carry out the Whitmer kidnapping hoax.
One FBI agent took her job so seriously that she had an affair with her mark.
That’s going above and beyond one’s “job.”
A few informants amassed million-dollar fortunes, with some Amtrak and “parcel” delivery employees earning up to, or perhaps more than, $1 million.
Many informants were given authorization by their FBI handlers to commit “crimes.” In four years, 22,800 crimes were authorized (2011-2014).
The DEA paid at least $237 million (FY2011-2015), the FBI around $294 million (FY2012-2018), and the ATF roughly $17.2 million (FY2012-2015) in total to informants.
Our OpenTheBooks.com auditors gathered this data by looking through government reports. Although some data is older than a few years, it appears to be the most recent information accessible.
Between fiscal years 2012 and 2018, the FBI invested an average of $42 million annually in confidential human sources. Twenty percent of its ties with intelligence came from “long-term” informants (source: DOJ IG 2019 report).
Even worse, the informants frequently commit crimes.
According to a 2015 report by the General Accountability Office, federal informants frequently commit crimes and often do so with the approval of their official handlers (GAO).
According to the GAO, “Since 1980, the Guidelines have authorized agencies to authorize informants to engage in acts that would otherwise be illegal under federal, state, or local law if someone without such authorization engaged in these same activities. For instance, under the right conditions, a law enforcement organization might permit an informant to buy illegal substances from a person who is the subject of a drug trafficking investigation. This type of behavior is known as “otherwise illegal activity.”
That’s a nice-sounding euphemism that describes a not-so-nice practice.
