SPECIAL EDITION EDITORIAL: OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT TRUMP, AG BONDI AND FBI PATEL
by J. Gary DiLaura
I was an FBI Agent for almost three decades and loved every minute of what I did! I write this letter not to brag about my accomplishments but to attempt to show you how far gone the FBI is and how to try to fix it. Eric Holder had enough time to totally ruin DOJ. He laced it with radical scum and set out to ruin what was once a law enforcement agency that prosecuted what FBI Crime Fighting Bureau presented. He turned the Civil Rights Department into a race-oriented agency that would rather put lawmen in jail than lawless criminals. An example is Philadelphia voting... when four Black Panthers prevented white folks from voting. The impartial attorneys, like J. Christian Adams, revolted when Holder refused to prosecute because of 400 years of black folks being slaves (Holder forgot Dems are the party of slavery!) He won’t prosecute. He is reported to say he would have prosecuted had the situation been reversed! There are so many things he did.
One more example...Texas, 37 States filed suit against DOJ that they were allowing illegals in and giving them immunity from prosecution. The Texas Fed Judge ordered Holder to cease and desist allowing that until he could review the case. Holder ignored the order, and his band of thieves gave 10,000 more immunity. The Judge charged the DOJ Attorneys with disobeying a Court order and stopped them from being able to appear before ANY of the 37 States’ District Courts. Holder also ignored the order to sanction his bag of thieves. There are MANY instances with Holder that should be investigated.
Then there’s the FBI. What these scoundrels did to my FBI ...from Obama’s attempted coup to the Steele Dossier ...that is much bigger than what you charged Comey with and then you did it the wrong freaking way! I wrote how to do it without the Grand Jury and why, duh! Get a Magistrates arrest warrant and some search warrants and arrest Comey at his home early on Friday morning. Treat him like the criminal that he is. Search for more documents... in his wife’s panties drawer... get into his safe. If he refuses to open the safe, then call Greasy’s Safe Breaker and let him have at it ...he’ll open it once he sees Greasy. You blew the only chance you had to interview him ...I’m telling you ...he will cave in ...anybody who is as quick, slick to tell Donald Trump, before inauguration, that the Dossier is phony, and he didn’t tell McCabe to leak anything, will give up his mother to save his own ass. And he just opened a new case on every person who signed that FISA warrant!
The FBI cannot be successful if you do not reclaim those violations it gave up by previous directors and Comey, who did it to keep agents away from the public, while we did the EXACT opposite! That’s a HUGH part of what we all did...try to flip subjects. YOU CAN’T FLIP AN ASSHOLE IF YOU DON’T ARREST HIM and do the things that you learned on the job!! You don’t know? My very point exactly...! Dipstick!
I’ll bet you cannot find one single Agent who’s there now who can claim he arrested in 20 years what I did in one year! You can’t why...BECAUSE YOU DIDN’T WORK CRIMINAL CASES. Well, “We worked security work”. Well let’s look at that. “How many spies did you arrest”? How many bombings did you stop...I only stopped one bombing in Buffalo and that was one of six! By the way it was Criminal Agents who solved the Twin Towers (twice and both could have been prevented, but for Clinton), the Pentagon, and Tim McVeigh...just to list a few!
My first office was Columbia, SC and during my 30-day orientation I was asked to help on the forensics (fingerprints) on a homicide... as I was fresh from the Academy. I dusted for prints and FBI IDENT identified the murderer from the palm print I lifted, which solved the case! That was just the beginning of what I called a very successful FBI career ...solving a murder crime, on a government reservation, from forensics.
I then spent 13 months in the Charleston Resident Agency (RA). There I teamed up with two other rookies and over that 13-month period, we arrested over 200 Fugitives, mostly deserters, a few escaped federal prisoners, and other fugitives hiding from the law. Our luck continued, a very cold case all lawmen dream of solving ...a homicide of a brother lawman. I developed a source who provided me with a description and an alias of a guy who lives in Charleston ...who bragged of stickups all over the South and one in the Bronx, NY the previous year (1968)! He shot it out with a Uniform responding to a silent alarm! The Bronx has thousands of robberies every year and more gunfights than you ever thought, 1,500 miles away in Bronx, NY, where a Precinct House was surrounded by the BLA and machine gunned! I solved it!
I pulled records, NCIC, the records the Office had and a got a hit on the alias name. A little more work and I was certain we had an IO Fugitive who I believed was my man. However, if he was an IO would the boss let me keep the case? Every office of the FBI has Agents who have been shot by IO Fugitives. (My partner Dennis was shot with another Agent in our next offices!) I sent the NYO the IO number and after numerous calls back and forth, they called back with “that’s our cop killer.” They identified the store, the robbery, and the picture with positive IDs from several witnesses ...and sadly, confirmed the Officer was killed. Now things were happening. Director Hoover called my SAC, as he followed all police shootings, to get the details and cautioned how dangerous this one was! My boss said he cleared it with the Director, it’s your case, he “trusted my judgment”!
We hit it the next morning, two in the front and two in the back. I caught the subject by surprise, but he went for his gun when I holstered to grab my cuffs and the fight began... my partners broke in the back door and after a pretty good fight, I knocked him out to pull his hand from his pocket with the gun, a “25 Caliber” cigarette lighter. He said he was going to fake it. He has NO idea how close I came to killing him! We cuffed him. He didn’t talk so we processed him and sent him to the Marshall.
A week later there’s a bank robbery (BR) in Myrtle Beach. The subject was a prison trustee who had a shotgun, got into the vault and got away in a station wagon with $18,000 ...this was 1969 ...that was a lot of money! We met the entire RA, 8 Agents, where the SRA showed previous arrest photos of the subject, gave us a description and the license plate number. He gave everyone an assignment ...except me and my partner. SR didn’t like the fact that Hoover got my name instead of his on the IO case. They head south. Dennis, my partner, is pissed but I stop him and tell him “STOP”, they are going in the wrong direction”. Check your watch, what time is it? He bursts out laughing as the bad guy hasn’t had time to get here. I pulled out my map. We lay the map on the hood and with a little arithmetic I pick out a point where he has to cross. We will find him near this point, and I point to the map. Doing well over 100mph ...the US 1 is two lanes and covered with crushed seashells ...what a ride! We arrived at that point and Dennis aka Wick asks, “Now what …left turn or straight?” He says, “You guess, you’ve been right so far”. I say straight. No lights or sirens, just normal and there’s the car parked alongside a Deli, front-end exposed, two young adults, driver seat empty. We took up a position, and I told Dennis to call for help. I didn’t believe we were within radio range. Dennis calls for help. The SAC Trent comes up on radio, calls my number and tells SR to stay off the radio and asks me my plan. I told him we’re going to take him in the car; he’s backed up to the side of a brick building...he’s not going anywhere. The boss, “Be careful, the Director said he is next to go on the Top 10!”. Here the subject comes with a bag of groceries. I tell Dennis, put your seat belt on and hold tight with your gun. I’m going to pin him... roll down your window, for more protection, you do the talking. I’m going to flank him and take cover behind that steel mailbox. If he takes his hands off the steering wheel, you open fire, if I’m in the open. Everything worked like clockwork... the Calvary (RA) shows as I took him down ...dragged him out to the ground and cuffed him.
Then, there was a little girl from Brooklyn NY, kidnapped and we got leads in Charleston. Her name was Tondalaya Jones, and her story was front page news. Ray and I have the “duty” for the week, after hours duty. So, Ray calls me to arm-up and bring extra stuff; there’s probably no radio cover where we are going ...great! I hate the swamp at night! “We” is, me and a good Agent Ray. Leads were looking good, very good. About 3am way out in the country, plantation type mansions. We just finished the interview that is taking us way out of range ...but I’m convinced it’s her! Ray...not so much. We got to the mansion. The lights are on inside ...what’s that tell you? Ray knocks, about 3am, the last interview had to have
called ...the lights are on, and she answered the door too fast. Ray, you talk to whoever answers. See if they have papers. I’m going to search the house ...she’s here ...I can feel it, too many coincidences, she’s here!
The wife opens the door then tries to close it. I have my foot in the door and push her back in. I found the little girl in a upstairs bedroom. I tell her I am a policeman and ask her for her name. She says, “Tondalaya Jones”!!! OMG... I get close to the crib, and she jumps into my arms. With her arms wrapped around my neck and legs around my waist she says, “Please don’t let me go”. I holler for Ray, “I have her, get up here”. I’m afraid the 6’ 3”, 300# husband is going to rush me. With my gun in one hand and flashlight in the other, he better not do ANYTHING threatening.
We retreated to the car; we got what was important and kept the phony documents. Ray told them not to go anywhere ...stay put, or else! By the time we get back to the RA, the phones are jumping off the walls. The SAC was speechless. I answer a phone and the caller says, “This is Walter Cronkite” …you can’t make this up! “It’s my understanding the FBI has rescued Tondalaya Jones ...is that correct”? Yes, sir and she’s fine!
I was a very successful Criminal Investigator who followed the law, the RULES and Regs (most of the time), who took all his training to heart. My entire career was LOADED with action ...don’t believe me? My next office was the NYO.
15 Agents transfer into the NYO every Monday AND are sent to either the Applicant or Security squads for 30 to 90 days to learn the ropes on how to stay alive! Everyone wants a criminal, Action Squad, like BR’s, including me .... but chances are very rare...I thought!
ADIC John Malone welcomed us to the Apple. He announced the assignments, excused 14 of the 15, to report to their Squad which included 3 Agents from my Academy Class, Jack Janson, Bill Jones and Jimmy Murphy! Malone told me to close the door and have a seat. He shook my hand and said thank you ...the Director will explain, he wants to talk to you. The next thing I know is the ADIC had his secretary send in the call. I could not grasp what I was seeing and hearing. Director Hoover wanted to hear all the details on the three above cases...especially about the IO fugitive/police killing case.
Director Hoover said that he follows all police killings, so starting with that case I explained in detail all of them! He said, “We never had a first office agent that successful...how did you do it, those are all once in a lifetime cases”? I just told him that I try to think like a thief and use common sense! He broke out laughing and said that he was glad I was on the right side. He said he told Mr. Malone to put me on the best squad in the FBI, the NYO was Hoover’s favorite office ...and the Truck Squad the best Squad! I didn’t know that. I found out, to be on the Truck Squad (John Gotti Crew), according to Mr. Malone ...is his go to squad ...you’ll see! You’ll see plenty of action.
My classmates stood by the door, waiting and just about jumped me. This is a big, big deal ...I never expected! Jack asked what the hell did I do to earn that! I responded, “I had a few really good cases”, we’ll talk over coffee, now let’s go to our new squads. That was Monday; Tuesday and Wednesday I filled out vouchers to get my moving money back. Thursday, the fourth day on the squad, my boss comes out and tells me to find some street clothes, the Squad is hitting a huge Gotti drop in the Bronx …you’ll go with John and do what he says. John tossed me the keys ...off we go, “Where’s the Bronx”?
We arrived there and they just went in. We got security at the front door! Maybe 10 minutes into the search, not much more, this 26ft straight truck approached ...to me it’s very suspicious ...very slow, extremely overloaded. I tell John I’m going to stop that truck ...it’s not right ...get help. I ran towards the truck ...I hollered, FBI, told him to pull over. He said “sure” and floored it and swerved to hit me but missed.
I had the car keys and jumped into our car. He made it three blocks ...bailed ...ran and fired a shot at me. I returned fire ...then I heard an Agent hollering to “stop, don't chase”! It was Jimmy Woods ...he told me about the perils of chasing bad guys in NY ...don’t do it ...it’s too dangerous ...“ya think so”? He apparently didn’t hear the shooting, and I left it like that! Jim said that we’ll find him, we always do. It’s too dangerous to chase alone, especially at night, which it was ...no mention of the shots fired! At the warehouse where the Squad stores swag evidence (stolen property) the Squad finds the proceeds of three hijacked loads on that truck...I received my first of many $200 Incentive Awards and a letter from the Director!!
The next day the entire Squad shook my hand, nobody ...including myself ...could believe my luck, and good welcoming to the squad. The “recovery” was like ¾ of a million dollars ...not bad for the first week! Mr. Malone came down to the squad and said he had already talked to the Director, who couldn’t believe it!
In my tenure in NY, about six years, just some more accomplishments:
TRUCK SQUAD
Solved a 5-year-old, armed truck hijacking/kidnapping...the biggest handgun theft in the US from Smith and Wesson ...500 handguns. We recovered all 500 guns ...a cold case that everybody had a “shot” at. I received the monetary credit for my stat sheet! All by common sense!
Remember what I said about “sources”? I developed a source who provided too many accomplishments to name (all by answering the complaint phone that Comey did away with) ...and it would put him/her in harm’s way as well as myself. Suffice it to say, we all paid our sources FBI funds ...it’s no secret. We had to have at least three sources on record. But, a year into NYO, I was advised by Mr. Malone that a single payment I paid to my source was the second highest ever paid! I was lucky to locate the biggest recovery of stolen property that the Squad EVER recovered, at one location, from more than a dozen stolen loads ...valued at millions of dollars ...said to be Gotti’s biggest loss.
Three Agents forced the return of a 7-year-old kidnap victim, John Calzedia (ph), by the sheer tenacity of three FBI Agents, who were the only ones left out of over 100 lawmen and two planes! On the surveillance that led to his release we made a promise to ourselves not to give up ...the kidnappers could not shake us ...a three-state surveillance that lasted 24 hours. Steve Gilkerson, DOC Coulson and yours truly ...on the last drop ...the father tossed the $50K over a RR trestle into a ditch, black darkness. DOC says don’t kill him just wound him! At 3-4am where three RR workers were working...what are the chances? Squad recovered all the loot and arrested three workers who thought it was a drug deal!? At 3-4am? The kidnappers released the boy, after they couldn’t find the money and said we wore them out ...meaning the surveillance!
The Truck Squad, as Mr. Malone told me, was his go-to squad! We had between 250 and 300 truck cases a year and solved most of them, 67%. This Squad had the best sources in the FBI ...not just on Truck cases but everything! There were no SWAT teams yet and you guessed it ...the Truck Squad for surveillance, and the BR Squad for the muscle handled most of the heavy stuff. The two Squads handled the Skyjackings (5-6 when I was there) all the big cases ...Dog Day Afternoon, two subjects ...that was the BR Squad. My classmate took one out and the other gave up ...smart move. As I recall the Squad took out three or four skyjackers. After three years on the Truck Squad, I went to the BR Squad for more action. Toy Fuson, my supervisor, and great friend, awarded me the Hemmings Transport Award, which was a Squad tradition, to the Agent with the highest monetary recoveries and most arrests, top gun! Closing note ...in three years on the Truck Squad I was shot at by bad guys no less than five times with my cars taking the hits, with the first discharge of my handgun being that unreported first Thursday in the Bronx, that first Drop, that was nothing compared to the BR experience.
BANK ROBBERY SQUAD
We solved bank robberies every which way you can imagine. We had 500 BRs a year and 35 Agents catching cases. We solved more bank robbery cases than the LA Division had! We solved about 300. There were two BRs every working day and that’s no lie! If the thieves missed a day ...we would have four the next. If there was a Bonnie and Clyde movie on Sunday there would be a Bonnie and Clyde stickup the next day. When you are really working cases, other cases will come to you ...develop sources ...informants simply because of the volume of Agents who were talking to citizens. If you do not engage with the public, you will NEVER accomplish anything when it comes to solving cases.
On the BR squad I had numerous good cases, a “Story Book Case” was one! Briefly, we had an Irish gang ...very dangerous ...shooting up the banks, getting into the vaults. Such was the case, so we teamed up... with my Truck squad and BR squad. The break was a citizen! A two week, around the clock. This was a very dangerous gang. During the second week Kelly made our tail but couldn’t tell who we were ...so he did what any good crook would do, and he fired two shots at us and hit us twice. I asked my partner Milt Aldrige if he pissed these guys off. We agreed we would discontinue and clean out our shorts for the day. But it was actually good because...I believe Kelly is nervous...!!!
The next day my buddies on the Truck Squad came through and called it out...Patti Hustin, the leader, just bought a 1977 Regal and gave a black gent an envelope. We tailed the black guy to a car around the corner, and it belongs to a car thief. Hmm...we tail the Regal and from past experience we will lock in on the Regal ...the Regal is the stickup car.! Don’t lose it. We do an all-night and the next day we are certain they are going to hit a Bank. The office has hooked us up with NY PD Major Case Unit (MCU), now, there are a hundred lawmen involved at the bridges and tunnels. The four two-man units are on the Regal ...that’s me and Ed Walker and three more two-man cars …all others to support. They go to an Army navy store and a supermarket ...Pride Right with two cars. They buy some masks and gloves and head out fast ...they are on the way. They are in Queens and the last car, DOC, loses them. I ask that car what is the closest intersection ... “Roosevelt /Warren”. I put out “that’s it”, stay away there’s an HSBC Bank right there. “I’m going to run the escape route they always use ...stay away, that’s it”! I have history with the robberies. I studied them and there were certain things they did on every robbery and one thing; they always take right turns after the job. Another is the getaway cars. They are not in NCIC, they were stolen late the day before ...the PD always lists the second day to be certain they’re stolen.
The plan was to not engage at the bank...bad things will happen. We’re going to “follow” and not engage unless we must... at the car switch, would be the ideal time to engage...last is the homes ...that’s not good either. Follow if we can. ...we know where they live, where they play, what color underwear they have...we also know for certain they are armed with an M2 fully auto 30cal, a sawed-off shotgun and a 1911 Colt 45, that Kelly fired two shots at Milt and me, hitting our car during surveillance.
We run the getaway route going past the bank, right turn, one block right turn, another block right turn; another block right turn, there’s the Regal and they are in the bank! We take the first right turn at the next corner and call out, “We have the eye, one block away. They will make the first right turn ...plan accordingly”.
Ed Walker and I are the only eyes we have on the action. They’re coming out; the SG, the M-2 and Kelly run out, and the SAC, who never saw a robbery of any type calls out “Engage, Engage”. I grabbed the mike from Ed and cut in, “Boss, we have the only eyes and a block away, Hold TIGHT, HOLD TIGHT ...there’s a marked Uniform, two cops, no light, no siren rolling in and might engage …HOLD. They will take the first right turn; we will follow, somebody will go by the right side of the bank and stop; they will go by there.
Kelly does as expected and floors that Regal and slams on the brakes to make the first right hand turn and is as cool as can be ...the cops are too intense and are concentrating on the intersection ...Ed and I have guns drawn, out of sight. Kelly slows to Sunday afternoon speed in the country, Police car right next to mine heads to the bank, and the boss is still hollering “Engage, engage”! Long story short, we U-turn and we follow at breakneck speed after the second right turn. They put the M-2 out the window and hammered our car with two hits to the radiator. We saw the burst, but it was too loud to hear in the car, screaming on the radio, and I never thought they hit us until the temperature gauge pegged ...our speeds didn’t allow the steam to show ...but they hit us. When I realized we were hit, and that’s the smoke, we put out “we’re hit and losing speed”. We ran for 14 minutes in the chase with a dying engine. The last thing we did was ...they pulled over and set up an ambush. I jammed in reverse and wheel hopped backwards while they popped off a few more. While we were pinned down, they car jacked a Pinto from a woman who blundered into the ambush. They pulled her out, loaded their stuff and we were off and running, but not for long. We had to break off. The car died, we got picked up, and we headed to Patti’s house. Sure enough, here he comes in a cab, with a heavy bulky bag...looks up and down the street and goes into his house. Not too long we follow him all the way to Times Square and with the Truck Squad, we follow all three. They all put stuff in the Port Authority lockers and removed the keys.
They met at Times Square 1, 2, 3 and we closed in. The only one to resist was Kelly who my partner Ed put to sleep when Kelly pulled that 1911...bad move!
And that’s just a few cases that were very violent, exciting, very successful.
Patti Huson was tried, convicted and sent to a federal prison, where he promptly escaped from and became an FBI 10 Most Wanted. Not for long ...he was captured again in a few weeks.
And that is the biggest part of the FBI if you don’t work criminal cases, you will NEVER be successful, changing back to a crime fighting Agency...NEVER.
THE FBI HAD 180 CRIMINAL CLASSIFICATIONS AND 15 OF THEM WERE A MUST! YOU MUST GET THE 15 CRIMES BACK THAT THE OTHER DIRECTORS GAVE UP: Bank Robbery, Interstate Theft, Fugitives, Hobbs Act, Kidnapping, Assaulting Federal Officers, Killing A Federal Officer, Military Deserters, Escape Federal Prisoners and the rest. You must keep investigators busy with investigating the same with Shooting, Defensive Tactics, Disarming Techniques.
I was the Principal Firearms Instructor, and DT instructor for Buffalo FBI and taught at all the Westen NY Police Academies and all the tools a lawman needs to know.
What you have lost is the quality in Agents because you dropped your requirements to be an FBI Agent, and now you are going to REDUCE them more...are you crazy??
HELL NO! I have seen what the Agents of today look like, many go unarmed. Why shouldn’t they ...they don’t make arrests, don’t do search warrants and when they do they F---it up, and disregard Rules and Regs, Violate the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedures, violate the Rules of Evidence, violate Rule 41.
All those cases I investigated, I drew up all my warrants and taught other Agents to do the same. Each time I made an arrest, which was hundreds of times, I kept track until I transferred to Buffalo when I transferred from NYO to Buffalo, my last year on the BR Squad, I had 57 arrests on my BR cases alone and was in another gunfight the very last week. The ASAC Shanley said how could I handle that many cases...by working!
GET BACK ALL THE CRIMINAL CASES YOU LOST. HIRE SEAL, DELTA, ARMY RANGERS, GREEN BERETS WITH ALL THEIR TRAINING AND YOU WILL HAVE NO PROBLEM GETTING YOUNG, QUALITY AGENTS.
Dump the garbage you now have.
DO AWAY WITH FEMALE AGENTS UNLESS THEY CAN QUALIFY WITH THE MEN. They lowered the standards across the board in the 1980s or later. There must be no affirmative Action BS. I don’t care what color, nationality as long as being able to handle dangerous arrests...most cannot.
If you hire former Military Special Ops, they will bring a quality and quantity of patriotism, toughness and all the benefits of a former soldier. Then teach them how to investigate, throw gas and not grenades, make dangerous arrests...that’s one half taken care of now teach them the law, the Rules, how to draw up warrants (arrest, search).
If you want to be successful, bring back the real FBI... YOU ABSOLUTLY MUST GET THE Title18 crimes back, high profile crimes that Director Hoover made top priority and take the 15 high cases and teach them how to be an investigator.
Before you arrested Comey, I wrote columns telling you how to do it, in detail, and how not to do it. Well... you did it exactly the wrong way ...indictment ...dumb. Did you interview him ...no; that’s the biggest piece of evidence an Agent can get if he is good ...but you must try. I told you wouldn’t get a chance...you don’t know if you don’t try, for Christ sakes! Did you search his house with search warrants, no and no. Interviews and searches, incidental to arrest, are the two top ways to produce physical evidence. You and the current “Agents” didn’t do what should be the best evidence and it’s because of the lack of experience and the current and entire FBI crew of “Agents” lack of criminal investigations that is ...was, hopefully ...WAS... the problem.
Sorry...but IT’S THE FREAKING TRUTH!!! These people are surrounded by evidence ...you will NEVER get anywhere doing things the wrong way like you are doing. None of you folks who are DOJ prosecutors or Agents have worked Hobbs Act, BR, Interstate thefts (all kinds). They are all Title 18 ...I can’t remember all the classification of cases we worked but the records show what they are!
Don’t LOWER your hiring standards, raise them. A female FBI Agent who isn’t strong enough to pull the trigger with one hand? She’s out there! Look ...you need to fire and hire. Blond hair and blue eyes don’t do it!
Set up a program to hire former Military, SOG, Delta, Rangers, SEAL Team, Green Beret ...get the idea? They are very well trained, loyal, trustworthy, tough, and already trained. Do training to change their Rules of Engagement and flash bangs instead of grenades. I’ll take a 45-year-old retired Delta, SEAL, Ranger over any of “today’s FBI Agents”!!! YOU WILL NEVER GET THE FBI BACK IF YOU DON’T ... FIRE AND HIRE ...SIMPLE …AND REPLACE THEM WITH LOYAL PERSONNEL …none of the Obama holdovers.
Fire every supervisor, top executive who did not blow in the Comeys, McCabes, Pages, Bakers and the coward SAC who allowed the band of idiots to step foot on Mar-a-Lago, without overseeing what evidence they had ...and allowing them to bring in a camera crew. Since when did the FBI make a TV show out of a Federal Search Warrant ...what school did he attend?!
