GOVERNMENT WATCH : Agent Author

After 20 years of often dangerous work, tracking down bad guys for the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Special Agent Paul Lindsay made a mistake that could cost him his job and his pension--within months of his retirement.

The 49-year-old agent’s trouble involves neither criminal wrongdoing nor malicious behavior. Rather, he chose to publish a fictional work entitled “Witness to Truth: A Novel of the FBI” and then to sell the rights to Hollywood in apparent violation of bureau policy.

According to the FBI’s “activities and standards of conduct” policy, employees may not accept compensation for any writing “devoted substantially to the responsibilities, programs or operations of the Department, or which draws substantially on official data or ideas which have not become part of the body of public information.” Punishment for violating the code varies from a verbal reprimand or a letter of censure to firing and loss of retirement benefits.

Lindsay admits he took a risk in writing the book. But he argues that because he put the money he earned from it into a blind trust, he did not violate the rules.

Before long the FBI will decide how it will deal with Lindsay. We hope the bureau doesn’t embarrass itself by overreacting. Even if the agent/author is guilty of violating FBI policy, the bureau should show a little mercy for a 20-year veteran whose only crime was to write a novel. And the bureau should not allow itself to be perceived as overly defensive because the novel paints the FBI as imperfect. What isn’t?