4 FBI Agents Face Probe in Dispute With Congressman

Three veteran Los Angeles FBI agents reportedly are under internal investigation for lobbying U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly to support a proposed law, and a fourth agent says he is under review for sending an irate note to Gallegly.

The four men face possible disciplinary action for engaging in improper political activity, according to several FBI agents.

Gallegly (R-Simi Valley) complains, meanwhile, that he was “the target of a bitter, and politically motivated, attack by a handful of FBI agents and their families” before the June 7 primary. But he denies filing a complaint against any of the four agents.

The FBI considers the situation an internal matter and will not discuss it, spokesman Jim Neilson said Thursday.

Several agents say the controversy has sparked outrage within FBI ranks.

“I have a right to express my views to my elected representative without putting my job on the line,” said special agent Greg Mercier, one of the agents who says he is under investigation.

Mercier said he was upset with Gallegly because three colleagues were placed under internal investigation after a Sept. 4 meeting with the congressman. The three had sought the lawmaker’s support for a bill that would increase the rate of overtime pay for 20,000 to 25,000 federal employees, including most FBI agents.

Mercier and the other three agents are all residents of Gallegly’s 21st District.

Mercier, a 12-year FBI veteran, said he returned a Gallegly campaign brochure to the lawmaker’s district office in May with a note scribbled on it: “Keep your stupid flyer. I wouldn’t vote for you again in a million years.” He identified himself as an FBI agent.

Two days later, Mercier recalled, he was informed by a bureau administrator that he was being placed under review by the FBI’s Office of Professional Responsibility. Such investigations can result in a range of punishment, including dismissal.

Mercier said he was told Gallegly had “filed a complaint against me. I was being charged with conspiracy in violation of the Hatch Act, along with other FBI agents, to keep him from being reelected.”

The Hatch Act is a 1939 federal law that prohibits government workers from participating in certain kinds of political activities, including influencing elections. It does not preclude federal employees from voicing their views on politics or on candidates for political office.

Gallegly, who easily won the June primary, said he mentioned Mercier’s note in jest when FBI officials asked whether he had received any communication from agents.

The agents who lobbied Gallegly were representing the FBI Agents Assn. and met with the lawmaker on their own time, said Mercier and another agent not under investigation, who requested anonymity.

Gallegly, who opposes the overtime bill, said in a May 27 letter to The Times that he called Richard Bretzing, special agent in charge of the Los Angeles office, after the Sept. 4 meeting “to learn if the agents were speaking for the bureau.”

But a statement issued by Gallegly’s Washington office Thursday said the congressman contacted Bretzing “to communicate to the FBI and its agents why he opposed the bill.”

But one of the agents who met with Gallegly, John Callaghan, said, “The congressman, as I understand it, filed a complaint against me. The congressman has put my job on the line.”

The other agents reportedly under review are 19-year veteran Larry Langberg, 45, and Brent Braun, 37, a 10-year agent.