FBI peers criticize discipline of agent

FBI agent Richard B. Marx spent a year atop 1.8 million tons of debris from the World Trade Center towers, searching for September 11 evidence at the Fresh Kills Landfill in Staten Island, N.Y.

For his devotion to the grungy job, he earned the gratitude of victims’ families, the respect of his peers, a nomination as the federal employee of the year — and a 10-day suspension and letter of reprimand from his superiors. The reprimand bars him from a major part of his job — collecting evidence for use in court.

The FBI suspended Mr. Marx after the Justice Department’s Office of Inspector General said he “lacked candor” in answering questions during an investigation into whether agents took evidence from the Fresh Kills site as souvenirs. Evidence that the inspector general thought was missing, which led to the inquiry, turned out to have been sent to museums nationwide and to FBI headquarters in Washington, all on orders of Congress.

The disciplining of Mr. Marx has outraged many rank-and-file agents, and several current and former high-ranking FBI officials have demanded a criminal investigation into what they say was an “unprofessional and unethical” Justice Department investigation.

“The Department of Justice owes it to Richard Marx and others who may in the future fall prey to such a gross abuse of authority that this injustice be investigated,” said Special Agent-In-Charge Jeffrey A. Lampinski, now retired after 25 years with the bureau. “In short, it became ‘personal’ to these investigators that they punish Agent Marx as well as slur the FBI.”

FBI Supervisory Special Agent Michael Carbonell, who heads a violent crime task force in Philadelphia that includes Mr. Marx, said that during his 25 years with the bureau, he has never seen an agent “treated in such a horrendous manner.”

“What boggles my mind is that the very people who were conducting an investigation that carries serious penalties for those deemed at fault didn’t know that what Mr. Marx was doing in removing some items from the landfill was mandated by Congress. This is absolutely astounding.”

Mr. Lampinski and Mr. Carbonell say they have tried without success for more than a year to get an independent investigation, making the request in letters to the Justice Department, the FBI and the Senate Judiciary Committee, which oversees the bureau.

But inspector general spokesman Paul Martin said that the office “conducted a thorough and professional investigation” and that contrary to complaints by Mr. Marx’s supervisors and others, the inquiry was handled “appropriately.”

“We submitted our report to the FBI, which reviewed the evidence, including responses from Marx and his supervisors, and took appropriate action,” Mr. Martin said. “We believe the complaints about our investigation are unwarranted.”

The ‘Giglio letter’

Mr. Marx was accused of misconduct in his management of the Fresh Kills site. In a lengthy but extensively redacted report, they said he “lacked candor” in interviews about the landfill operation, which “constituted misconduct that warrants discipline.”

In a Dec. 17, 2003, memo to FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, Inspector General Glenn A. Fine said Mr. Marx could not recall in interviews whether he told any FBI employees that they could take mementos, could not recall whether anyone from the FBI had asked whether they could take mementos and had no recollection of giving any items to FBI employees, including his superiors.

FBI spokesman Richard J. Kolko declined to comment, saying it was a matter involving the inspector general’s office and the bureau’s Office of Professional Responsibility (OPR) “that already has been resolved.”

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