by Red Smith · January 29, 2016

Information Courtesy of KSL-TV

Special Agent in Charge Bretzing

In 2011 KSL-TV out of Utah conducted a year-long investigation of the FBI Field Office in Salt Lake City regarding security violations. The alleged violations had been first reported by a special agent in Phoenix and alleged a leak of classified information that could threaten national security. Greg Bretzing, now out of the FBI’s Portland, OR. branch and current Special Agent in Charge of the Malhuer Occupation and LaVoy Finicum shooting was an Assistant Special Agent in Charge at the time of the investigation. The report prompted the Salt Lake City field office to begin re-evaluating its security procedures, according to sources inside the FBI. Security clearance procedures were reassessed to ensure each individual had the appropriate credentials and access.

The story detailed allegations of multiple violations of internal FBI policies, including lax oversight of classified documents stored inside the FBI’s Salt Lake City field office; violations of policies that govern the issuance and use of FBI credentials; the failure to enforce rules that restrict access to areas where classified documents are kept; and concerns that high-level FBI officials may have covered up a formal complaint of security violations. The FBI declined to officially comment on any of the allegations.

Nearly a dozen self-described whistleblowers — including those with strong ties to the FBI’s Salt Lake field office — have come forward to expose potentially serious security breaches, including the removal of classified documents from the office contrary to strict FBI protocol. The whistleblowers were interviewed as part of the yearlong investigation which was able to corroborate much of what each source reported by conducting individual interviews without the knowledge of other sources. The sources provided details of multiple violations of internal FBI policies, including lax oversight of highly classified documents stored inside the Salt Lake City office’s Secret Compartmented Information Facility; the failure to enforce rules that restrict access to areas where classified documents are kept; violations of policies that govern the issuance of FBI credentials; and concerns that high-level FBI officials may have covered up a formal complaint of security violations.

SNIP