WASHINGTON — The FBI gave its informants permission to break the law at least
5,658 times in a single year, according to newly disclosed documents that show
just how often the nation's top law enforcement agency enlists criminals to help
it battle crime.
The U.S. Justice Department ordered the FBI to begin tracking crimes by its
informants more than a decade ago, after the agency admitted that its agents had
allowed Boston mobster James "Whitey" Bulger to operate a brutal crime ring in
exchange for information about the Mafia. The FBI submits that tally to top
Justice Department officials each year, but has never before made it public.
Agents authorized 15 crimes a day, on average, including everything from
buying and selling illegal drugs to bribing government officials and plotting
robberies. FBI officials have said in the past that permitting their informants
— who are often criminals themselves — to break the law is an indispensable, if
sometimes distasteful, part of investigating criminal organizations.
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