Lawyer: FBI agent's job in jeopardy because she blew the whistle
From Terry Frieden
CNN Washington
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A veteran FBI agent, who last year reported fellow agents had taken a Tiffany globe from "Ground Zero" in the September 11 terrorism investigation, has been informed the FBI intends to fire her, her lawyer said Tuesday.
Agent Jane Turner, a 25-year veteran of the FBI in the Minneapolis field office, last week received a "notice of proposed removal," according to attorney Stephen Kohn.
Kohn, Chairman of the National Whistleblower Center in Washington, said Turner had received a memo from her Minneapolis supervisor charging she had "tarnished the Bureau."
Kohn said the FBI has placed its planned termination on hold pending the outcome of a Justice Department Inspector General investigation into the matter.
The FBI is prohibited by law from commenting on the case, officials said.
"The Privacy Act precludes us from commenting on a personnel matter -- It's between the FBI and our employee," said FBI spokesman Bill Carter. "She received an extensive letter, and she is free to release it if she chooses, but we can't," Carter said.
Turner says she discovered the Tiffany globe on a secretary's desk in her Minnesota field office.
"The secretary said she had been given the globe by members of the Emergency Response Team," Kohn said. "It raises questions about whether anything else may have been taken," he said.
According to Kohn, Turner bagged up the item and traveled to Washington where she reported the incident.
The Justice Inspector General is already reviewing the case of whistleblower Colleen Rowley, who also is employed in the Minneapolis FBI office.
Sen. Charles Grassley, who has been the leading supporter of FBI whistleblowers, expressed concern about the incident involving the Tiffany Globe in a Senate floor speech last September.
Grassley had championed Rowley's cause when she openly criticized the FBI headquarters failure to properly handle crucial terrorism leads prior to 9/11.
