If an Agent Knocks
Federal Investigators and Your Rights
Center for Constitutional Rights
Background 1.
What is Political Intelligence?
2.
Do I have to talk to the FBI?
3.
Under what laws do the agents operate?
4.
What federal agencies are likely to be interested in a citizen's political activities and affiliations?
5.
How does the FBI learn about citizens and organizations?
6.
What if I suspect surveillance?
7.
How should I respond to threatening letters or calls?
8.
What rights do I have?
9.
What should I do if police, FBI, or other agents appear with an arrest or search warrant?
10.
What should I do if agents come to question me?
11.
If I don't cooperate, doesn't it look like I have something to hide?
12.
Are there any circumstances under which it is advisable to cooperate with an FBI investigation?
13.
How can grand juries make people go to jail?
14.
Is there any way to prevent grand jury witnesses from going to jail?
15.
What can lawyers do?
Errata
Notes
People opposing U.S. policies in Central America, giving sanctuary to refugees from Guatemala and El Salvador, strugglingfor Black liberation, and against nuclear weapons, are today more than ever likely to receive visits from FBI agents or otherfederal investigators. Increasingly, agents are also visiting the familist, friends, and employers of these activists. This pamphlet is designed to answer the most frequent questions asked by people and groups experiencing governmentscrutiny, and to help them develop practical responses.
What is Political Intelligence?
Political intelligence is information collected by the government about individuals and groups. Files secure under theFreedom of Information Act disclose that government officials have long been interested in all forms of data. Informationgathered by government agents ranges from the most personal data about sexual liaisons and preferences to estimates of thestrength of groups opposing U.S. policies. Over the years, groups and individuals have developed various ways of limitingthe collection of information and preventing such intelligence gathering from harming their work.
Do I have to talk to the FBI?
No. The FBI does not have the authority to make anyone answer questions (other than name and address [see
errata]), to
permit a search without a warrant, or to otherwise cooperate with an investigation. Agents are usually lawyers, and they arealways trained as investigators; they have learned the power of persuasion, the ability to make a person feel scared, guilty, orimpolite for refusing their requests for information. So remember, they have no legal authority to force people to doanything -- unless they have obtained an arrest or search warrant. Even when agents do have warrants, you still don't have toanswer their question.
Under what laws do the agents operate?
In 1976, FBI guidelines regulating the investigation of political activities were issued by Attorney General Edward H. Levi.Criticized by liberals and conservatives alike, the guidelines were issued in the wake of a Congressional committee's reportof highly questionable activities by the FBI: monitoring the activities of domestic political groups seeking to effect change.
The report exposed the FBI's counter-intelligence program (COINTELPRO) under which the agency infiltrated groups,compiled dossiers on, and directly interfered with individuals engaged in activities protected by the First Amendment rightsto freedom of expression and association. The FBI COINTELPRO program was initiated in 1956. Its purpose, as described later by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover,was "to expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize activities" of those individuals and organizations whoseideas or goals he opposed. Tactics included: falsely labelling individuals as informants; infiltrating groups with personsinstructed to disrupt the group; sending anonymous or forged letters designed to promote strife between groups; initiatingpolitically motivated IRS investigations; carrying out burglaries of offices and unlawful wiretaps; and disseminating to othergovernment agencies and to the media unlawfully obtained derogatory information on individuals and groups. In 1983, Attorney General William French Smith issued superseding guidelines that authorized "domestic security/ terrorism" investigations against political organizations whenever the FBI had a reasonable belief that these groups mightviolate a law. The new guidelines permitted the same intrusive techniques the FBI used against organized crime. The Smith guidelines were justified by the Attorney General's observation that "our citizens are no less threatened bygroups which engage in criminal violence for political... purposes that by those which operate lawlessly for financial gain."He concluded: "we must ensure that criminal intelligence resources that have been brought to bear so effectively inorganized crime and racketeering investigations are effectively employed in domestic security/ terrorism cases." Theguidelines provide, therefore, no safeguards to protect against infringements of First Amendment rights. Worst, they ignore the history of COINTELPRO abuses, and abolish the distinction between regular criminal investigationsand investigations of groups and individuals seeking political change. They fail to limit the investigative techniques used toobtain data on political groups, so that now the FBI may use any technique, including electronic surveillance and informers,against political organizations. Today, the FBI may begin a full investigation whenever there is a reasonable indication that "two or more persons areengaged in an enterprise for the purpose of furthering political or social goals wholly or in part through activities thatinvolve force or violence and a violation of the criminal laws of the United States." The FBI has interpreted "force orviolence" to include the destruction of property as a symbolic act, and the mere advocacy of such property destructionwould trigger an investigation. Even without any reasonable indication, under a separate guideline on "Civil Disorders andDemonstrations Involving a Federal Interest," the FBI may investigate an organization that plans only legal and peacefuldemonstrations. Another set of rules governing federal intelligence gathering is Executive Order 12333, in force since 1981. It authorizes theFBI and CIA to infiltrate, manipulate and destroy U.S.political organizations, as well as to use electronic surveillance --
under the pretext of an international intelligence investigation.
What federal agencies are likely to be interested in a citizen's political activities andaffiliations?
The FBI is still the major national intelligence-gathering agency. There are also many other federal, state, local and private
investigative agencies. At least 26 federal agencies may gather intelligence, including the Immigration & Naturalization
Service, Internal Revenue Service, and the Treasury Department's Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. Local policeagencies sometimes contain "special services" units and narcotics or other "strike forces" in which federal, state, and local
agencies cooperate. The Central Intelligence Agency and National Security Agency are particularly active when a political
organization has or is suspected to have international contacts. Military security agencies and increasingly significant"private" research institutes and security agencies also gather intelligence. A recent Freedom of Information Act request on behalf of the Livermore Action Group, an anti-nuclear organization,revealed that the Navy, the U.S. Marshal's Service, and the Marine Corps all sent agents to the Group's public meetings andkept newspaper reports of such meetings. Most chilling was the revelation that the Federal Emergency Management Agency(FEMA) -- the federal agency charged with implementing martial law in the event of a nuclear war -- was also watching theLivermore group.
Federal and state, local and private agencies, all tend to share information in a variety of ways.
How does the FBI learn about citizens and organizations?
Political intelligence is gathered from public sources, such as newspapers and leaflets. It is also collected by informers whomay be government employees or people recruited by them. Political intelligence is also collected through FBI visits to your
home or office. We are here most concerned with this aspect of intelligence gathering. Agents may be sent to interview people after FBI officials decide there is a "reasonable indication" that an organization orperson meets the guidelines for a "domestic security" investigation. Such interviews are a primary source of information, formost people are not aware of their right
not
to talk to federal agents. Most people are also unaware of the limits to the power of FBI and other investigative agents. Many people visited byagents are also afraid of being rude or uncooperative. Agents may be friendly and courteous, as if they are attempting toprotect you or your organization, or express admiration for your organization and its goals. Occasionally, the FBI maypersuade a disaffected member of an organization to give them information about other members, including their personal
lives, character and vulnerabilities.
A major job of FBI agents is to convince people to give up their rights to silence and privacy. For example, after a Quakerpacifist spoke in Anchorage, Alaska, at a memorial Service for El Salvador's Archbishop Romero, FBI agents visited a localpriest and interrogated him about the speaker. The agents asked about the speaker's organizational affiliations andexpressed fears about "terrorist connections." The agents informed the priest that they would do a "computer check" on thespeaker and his wife, and asked the priest if the two might do violence to the U.S. President, scheduled to visit the area.These interrogations were repeated in the community by agents who later admitted there was no basis for their questionsabout "terrorist connections" and the danger to the President.
What if I suspect surveillance?
Prudence is the best course, no matter who you suspect, or what the basis of your suspicion. When possible, confront thesuspected person in public, with at least one other person present. If the suspect declines to answer, he or she at least nowknows that you are aware of the surveillance. Recently, religious supporters of a nation-wide call to resist possible U.S.intervention in Central America noticed unfamiliar people lurking around their offices at 6 a.m., but failed to ask what theywanted and who they were. If you suspect surveillance, you should not hesitate to ask the suspected agents names andinquire about their business. The events giving rise to suspicions of surveillance vary widely, but a general principle remains constant: confront thesuspected agents politely and in public (never alone) and inquire of their business. If the answer does not dispel yoursuspicion, share it with others who may be affected and discuss a collective response. Do not let fears generated by"conspicuous" surveillance create unspoken tensions that undermine your work and organization. Creating fear is often thepurpose of obvious surveillance. When in doubt, call a trusted lawyer familiar with political surveillance.
Please do not callthe number that was printed here as the Movement Support Network Hotline, because it is no longer active, andis now the private residence of an unrelated person.
How should I respond to threatening letters or calls?
If your home or office is broken into, or threats have been made against you, your organization, or someone you work with,share this information with everyone affected. Take immediate steps to increase personal and office security. You shoulddiscuss with your organization's officials and with a lawyer whether and how to report such incidents to the police. If youdecide to make a report, do not do so without the presence of counsel.
What rights do I have?
1.
The Right to Work for Change. The First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution protects the rights of groups and
individuals who advocate, petition, and assemble to accomplish changes in laws, government practices, and even the
form of government Political intelligence gathering is not supposed to interfere with these rights.
2.
The Right to Remain Silent. The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution provides that every person has the right toremain silent in the face of questions (other than name and address) posed by any police officer or government
agent.
Since 1970, however, federal prosecutors may request judges to order a subpoenaed witness to testify, after a grantof immunity, at a grand jury hearing or at a criminal trial. This grant of immunity means that your FifthAmendment right to refuse to testify is taken away. What is given to you is only the promise not to use yourtestimony against you in a subsequent criminal prosecution. But you can still be charged with a crime. Failure totestify after a grant of immunity is discussed on page 12 below.
3.
The Right to be Free from "Unreasonable Searches and Seizures." Without a warrant, no government agent isallowed to search your home or office (or any other place that is yours and private) You may refuse to let FBI