Freeh Can Hold His Head High

As Louis J. Freeh leaves as director, we should reflect on the tenure of this remarkable public servant who brought the FBI into the 21st century.

Freeh’s FBI chases sophisticated crooks and terrorists through cyberspace as well as low-level violators over back fences.

While there is still some vestige of the old bureau, which drove up statistics by chasing car thieves over state lines, today’s FBI focuses on complex and far-ranging investigations that touch the core of our national life.

The dangerous world in which we live poses real threats to our national security, public integrity and personal safety, requiring the FBI to engage in sophisticated and at times aggressive law enforcement techniques while protecting our civil liberties.

This is no easy task.

Moreover, the director, although appointed by the president and serving under the attorney general, must be fiercely independent and keep the FBI free from political influence. The job description is a recipe for controversy, but Freeh handled it supremely well.

It cannot be disputed that the FBI made mistakes and blundered on occasion during Freeh’s tenure. In fairness, however, one must consider how Freeh responded.

When the FBI laboratory was criticized, Freeh appointed an outside scientist as director and instituted a peer review process. After the deadly sieges at Waco, Texas, and Ruby Ridge, Idaho--events that preceded his appointment--Freeh placed negotiation in hostage situations on equal par with tactical forces. And, in the alleged national security case against Wen Ho Lee, Freeh took the broad range of criticism head-on by explaining to Congress and the American people that, while Lee engaged in serious wrongdoing, it was in the nation’s best interest to accept a plea and secure Lee’s cooperation.

Recently, it was Freeh’s FBI that investigated and captured Robert Philip Hanssen, who had been spying within FBI ranks for more than 15 years. While Hanssen was an FBI failure, credit must be given to Freeh’s FBI for cracking the case. And only a week ago, legal closure was brought with the execution of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy J. McVeigh.

While the FBI has been justifiably criticized for failing to turn over several thousand pages of documents in McVeigh’s case, it is not fair to blame Freeh. He personally sent several directives to the FBI’s 56 field offices, ordering that all relevant materials be provided to defense attorneys. When Freeh discovered that this had not been done, he testified before Congress, taking full responsibility and announcing an overhaul of the FBI’s record-keeping system.

If the FBI made a mistake, Freeh was more determined than anyone to find and correct it. He welcomed fair scrutiny and examination by Congress. One hopes that members of Congress will handle the current oversight hearings with responsibility and restraint and not engage in exaggeration or posturing.

On Thursday, a federal grand jury in Virginia handed down indictments against 13 Saudis and one Lebanese in the Khobar Towers bombing that killed 19 U.S. servicemen and wounded 372 other Americans in their barracks in Saudi Arabia five years ago. And only a few weeks ago, four men were found guilty of a terrorist bombing of our embassies in East Africa.

The FBI’s outspoken critics have been conspicuous in their silence regarding these stunning law enforcement achievements, fostered by Freeh’s vision of a global FBI and by his personal tenacity.

Freeh has devoted his entire professional life to public service, as an FBI agent, a prosecutor, a federal judge and finally as FBI director. He always told the truth, took responsibility and exercised enormous authority with restraint and humility. There was never the slightest hint of personal impropriety or questionable conduct.

In a town too often known for bloated egos, spin doctoring and hypocrisy, Freeh stands as a shining example of all that is good in government. We all owe him our thanks.