January 18, 2006

January 18, 2006: "eport by Sibel D. Edmonds, Former Language Specialist; FBI:

Melek Can Dickerson, a Turkish Translator, was hired by the FBI after September 11, and was placed in charge of translating the most sensitive information related to terrorists and criminals under the Bureau’s investigation. She was granted Top Secret Clearance, which is supposed to be granted only after conducting a thorough background investigation. However, according to FBI officials, she had previously worked for semi-legit organizations that were FBI’s targets of investigation, and had on going relationships with two individuals who were FBI’s targets of investigation. For months she blocked all-important information related to these semi-legit organizations and the individuals she and her husband associated with. She stamped hundreds, if not thousands, of documents related to these targets as ‘Not Pertinent’, and attempted to prevent others from translating these documents - important to the FBI’s investigations and our fight against terrorism. Further, she and her husband attempted to recruit others, including myself, to work for the FBI target under investigation.

Dickerson, with the assistance of her direct supervisor, Mike Feghali, took hundreds of pages of top-secret sensitive intelligence documents outside the FBI to unknown recipients. She, with the assistance of her direct supervisor, forged signatures on top-secret documents related to certain 9/11 detainees. Even after these incidents were confirmed and reported to FBI management, she was allowed to remain in her position, to continue the translation of sensitive intelligence received by the FBI, and to maintain her Top Secret Clearance. Apparently, bureaucratic mid-level FBI management and administrators decided that it would not look good for the Bureau if this security breach and espionage case was investigated and made public, especially after Robert Hanssen’s case (FBI spy scandal). The Dickerson case was confirmed by the Senate Judiciary Committee (Please refer to Senator Leahy and Grassley’s letters dated June 19 and August 13, 2002, and Senator Grassley’s statement on CBS-60 Minutes in October 2002), and received major coverage by the press. According to Director Mueller, the Inspector General criticized the FBI for failing to adequately pursue this espionage report regarding Dickerson (Please refer to DOJ-IG report Re: Sibel Edmonds and FBI Translation).

Today, almost four years since the Dickerson incident was reported to the FBI, and more than three years since this information was confirmed by the United States Congress and reported by the press, the administrators in charge of FBI personnel security and language departments in the FBI remain in their positions and in charge of translation quality and translation departments’ security. Dickerson and several FBI targets of investigation hastily left the United States in 2002, and the case still remains uninvestigated criminally. This case was not referred to the FBI Counterespionage division, as it is required by the FBI’s own protocol. It needs to be investigated and criminally prosecuted - it is a clear case of espionage. The translation of our intelligence is being entrusted to individuals with loyalties to our enemies; important ‘chit-chats’ and ‘chatters’ are being intentionally blocked. "