FBI mismanaging the War on Terror

FBI Supervisory Special Agent Bassem Youssef is the FBI’s highest ranking Arabic Speaking agent; he works in counterterrorism and has done so for over 15 years. After 9/11, Mr. Youssef was systematically discriminated against by FBI managers. When he called this to the attention of Director Mueller and his Congressman, he was retaliated against. After a long, prestigious career in operational counterterrorism in the Middle East, he was relegated to a desk job and not allowed to use his Arabic language skills.

Mr. Youssef is the FBI’s highest ranking counterterrorism official to ‘blow the whistle’ on the FBI’s gross mismanagement of the War on Terror. He is the highest ranking fluent Arabic speaking FBI agent. Notably, Mr. Youssef was the recipient of the highly prestigious DCI (Director of Central Intelligence) award for his Counterterrorism work in the Middle East. Before the Bush Administration came to power, Mr. Youssef was highly praised by the former FBI Director for his effective liaison skills between U.S. and Middle Eastern intelligence agencies.

In spite of his qualifications, under this current administration, the FBI has blacklisted Mr. Youssef and prevented him from using his Arabic language skills and cultural experience to aid the 9/11 investigation. When he brought this discrimination, and other concerns, to his superiors and his Congressman, Mr. Youssef was denied a promotion, transferred, and stripped of all operational counterterrorism duties.

In January, a report from the Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) found that there was “sufficient evidence” to believe that the FBI’s actions against Mr. Youssef were retaliatory. The FBI leadership has a history of harsh retaliation, and they will stop at nothing to silence critics of the Bureau. By going public, Mr. Youssef has placed himself in harm’s way. The FBI has retaliated against every whistleblower who has had the courage to expose wrongdoing to the news media. Mr. Youssef still works at the FBI and needs your support today.

whistleblowers.org