MFR NARA- T6- FBI- Bloom Alina- 8-4-03- 00479

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Event:AlinaBloom,SupervisorySpecialAgent,WashingtonFieldOffice,FBITypeofEvent:InterviewDate:August4,2003SpecialAccessIssues:NonePreparedby:PeterRundletTeamnumber:6Location:FBI,WashingtonFieldOfficeParticipantsNon-Commission:JonathanSils,AssistantGeneralCounsel,FBIParticipants-Commission:MichaelJacobsonandPeterRundletBackground.AlinaBloomgraduatedfromRutgersUniversityandcametotheFBIasanAgent,whenshewas25yearsold,inFebruary1983.Sincethen,shehasworkedinalmosteveryprogrammaticareaexceptWhiteCollarCrime.ShehasworkedintheMiamiFieldOfficeseveraltimes,SanJuan,MexicoCity(ALAT),Paris(ALAT),Headquarters(HQ)-MiddleEastUnit(fromAugust2000-April2002),andshehasbeenattheWashingtonFieldOffice(WFO)sinceApril,2002.SheisfluentinSpanishandcanspeakFrenchata"highlevel."BloomsaidthatshewaslikingthefieldexperienceandcovetedtheWFOinparticular.ShewasselectedtobetheSupervisorySpecialAgent(SSA)inchargeoftheLanguageSpecialistPrograminpartbecauseofherlanguagebackground.Whenshearrivedtotheposition,herpredecessorwasalreadygoneandsheknowsalmostnothingabouthim.TheLanguageProgram.ThelanguageprogramattheWFOhasabout111linguistsalltogether,representing28languagesandevenmoredialects.Thesquadincludes4SupervisoryLanguageSpecialists(SLS)thathavethreeorfourlanguageboardsassignedtoeach.All4SLSsreporttoBloomandtheyareresponsibleforthedaytodaysupervisionofthelanguagespecialists(LS).Withrespecttothe"hotlanguages,"thereare27ArabicspeakersontheArabicboard,ofwhomare13full-timeemployeesand14contractemployees.Thereare8HindiPunjabispeakers(5FT/3contract),onePashtospeaker(contractemployee);10Farsispeakers(5FT/5contract);and4Hebrewspeakers(3or4ofwhomarefulltimeemployees-shewasn'tsure).Bloomindicatedthatthecounterterrorism(CT)workcontinuestoincreaseandthattheyneedmanymorelinguists,particularlyArabicspeakers.Sheindicatedthatit

hardtofindmorequalifiedspeakersthatcangetthenecessarysecurityclearances,andthattheylosemanyindividualsduringtheclearanceprocess.CTisthepriority-andhavingtheprioritymakesiteasiertodeterminehowtoassignthework.Also,evenwithintheCTarena,certaincasesareassignedhigherpriorityallCTFISAs-forwhichareportisproducedforeachone).Thereisverylittlebackloginthepriorityareas.Inotherareas,suchasforcriminalcases,theyarelesscaughtup.Someforeigncounterintelligence(FCI)workisshippedtootherofficesfortranslation.TheLanguageProgramisreallyrunoutofHQ.JohnTolarski(sp?)isthepointpersonfromHQfortheprogram;heoverseesalloftheLShiring.

Contractemployees.

Bloomsaidthatthecontractemployeesreceiveahighersalaryperhour,buttheyreceivenobenefits.Theyareallverybusy,frequentlyloggingmorethan40hoursaweek.Thecontractorsgetthesamesecurityclearances-alltopsecret,andfacethesamelanguagetestingrequirements.BloomsaidthattherewasabroaderrangeofbackgroundsnowandthatsomeoftheLSsarenotatthehighestlevels.Bloomindicatedthatshehastriedtoclassifyeachlinguistbyskilllevelandtocategorizetheirexpertiseasameansforexercisingsomequalitycontrol.SomeLSsareonlyabletomonitorconversations.WhenaskedwhysomanyoftheLSswerecontractors,Bloomindicatedthatsheisnotinvolvedinthehiringdecisions,butthatherunderstandingisthattheWFOdidn'thavetheauthoritytohirefull-timeemployees.Shesaidthattheircontractorstatushasnothingtodowiththeirskills.WhenaskedhowsheexercisesqualitycontroloverthelonePashtospeaker,sheindicatedthatHQhandlesthis.

SecurityClearances.

Many,butnotalloftheLSspossessSCIclearances;LSsarereadinandoutofcompartments,asneeded.Bloomindicatedthatthesecuritycontrolsarebeingreviewed.Ingeneral,theFBIisbeingmorecarefulaboutclearancesthantheywereinthepast.

Howworkhaschanged.

Theworkofthesquadhaschangedovertimesothatitisnowmorepriority-basedandthereforemoreefficient.Bloomsaidshehastocloselyreviewtheassignmentsandmakechoices.Also,thelinguistshavetogivefeedbackontheinterceptstohelpdeterminehowwelltheyareworking.

Supervision.

Bloomindicatedthatshewasnotveryfamiliarwithherpredecessor(andclearlydidnotwanttodirectlycriticizehim),butshesaid,"PeopleseemtobehappyaboutthelevelofattentionI'vegiventhem.It'salargesquad.I'vereachedoutmorethanmypredecessordid."Whenshestarted,aninspectionwasunderway.Moralewasverylow.Bloomtriedtomakeitaprioritytoaddressthis.ShesaidthattherewerenofindingsaboutthequalityoftheLSworkproduct-thatmostwere/areatanexpertlevel.TheLSstendtobewell-educatedandarepaidprimarilyattheGS-12level.WhenaskedhowmuchinvolvementshehaswiththeLSsdaytoday,shesaidthatshehasregularsquadmeetingstoremindpeoplethatshe'saccessible.Thesearehugemeetingsintheconferenceroom.Shesaidshehasmeetingsmorefrequentlywiththe

"hotlanguage"boards.Shetriestogivethemtrainingonhowtohandlethreatinformation.BloomhastriedtoobtainAnalytictrainingfromtheCIAforherLinguistsbyhavingaCIAtrainercomein.ShehasalsoinvitedSquadAgentstocomedowntotalkabouttheircasesandshe'sarrangedforsomepresentationsontheirClprogram.

Processforhandlingthreatinformation.

Duringregularworkhours,threatinformationistobereferredtoboththecaseAgentinvolvedandtheSupervisor.Afterhours,theLSissupposedtocontactCTWatchatHQ(whichisthe24houroperationscenter).

Coordination/informationsharingwithintheFBI.

MostseasonedAgentsknowwhatthelanguagespecialistsdo.BloomtriestomakesurethatSupervisorsknowtohavetheirAgentsworkwiththeLinguists.lftheAgentshaven'tbeencomingdowntomeetwiththeLSs,thenshewillgotalktotheirsupervisors.ShealsoaddressesthenewerAgentstomakesuretheyinteract.BloomsaidthatshetellstheLSsthattheAgenthasthefinalauthority,butthattheLSshaveinputandshouldshareit.BloomindicatedthatthereisapurposetokeepingthingscompartmentalizedbutthatAgentsshouldgiveLSenoughinformationtofindwhattheyneed.WhenaskediftheAgentsactuallyunderstandthis,Bloomwasveryhesitantandsaid"generally...yes.Whentheydon'tItalktothem."(Heranswerlefttheclearimpressionthatthisisstillanissue.)Bloomsaidthatsherequeststhattheanalystsmeetwiththelinguistsonceamonth.Shesaidthatitsometimeshappensthatoften,sometimesless.Shekeepsherown"blacklist"ofanalystswhodon'tmeetwiththelinguists.[SeediscussionbelowregardingHQrole,too.]Bloomindicatedthatthelinguistssometimesareawareoftheneedforothersquadstoknowaboutaparticulartechcut.Whenaskedwhatintelligenceproductsshesees,BloomindicatedthatsheseestheCTandClintelligencethatisdisseminatedtoSSAonaregularbasis.Shewillthensharethatinformationwiththosewhoneedtoseeit.Bloomdoesnotgetoperationalcables,andshefeelsshehasnoneedtoseethem.BloomindicatedthattheASACmightflaginformationforher-butthatshedoesnotgetCIAproductsdirectly.Shedoesget"intelligencealerts"putoutbytheAnalyticalUnitatHQ.Whenshegetsparticularthreatinformation(e.g.,regardingscubadiversorvessels)shedisseminatestheinformationtoherlinguists,becausetheinformationisunclassifiedandtheyneedtoknowit.

FISAs.

WhenaskedhowmuchinputtheLSshaveonFISAtargetsandwhethertorenewaparticularFlSA,Bloomrespondedthattheproduct(or"take")itselfusuallydetermineswhethertheyshouldcontinueornot.WhenaskedwhetherASACPatCookwouldseekherideasaboutwhomtotarget,BloomrespondedthatshegiveshimalistofallCTFlSAsbeingworkedatagiventimeandthathehastosignoffonthetargetlist.

BreakdownofFISAs

v.

TitleIlls.

BloomsaidthattheyworkedveryfewTitle

"'1

IllsandthattheywereprimarilyaFISAoperation.ShesaidthatTitleIllsareworkedin~aseparateroom.ShesaidthattheDepartmentofJustice(DOJ)wantsagentstostart

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