Statement of Assistant Director Cassandra M. Chandler Regarding New York Times Story “F.B.I. Goes Knocking for Political Troublemakers”

Washington, D.C. – “An August 16th New York Times story titled ‘F.B.I. Goes Knocking For Political Troublemakers’ implied that the FBI is conducting interviews without legal predication. The implication that we are conducting interviews without a legal basis is completely unfounded. The FBI is not monitoring groups, or interviewing individuals, unless we receive intelligence that such individuals or groups may be planning violent and disruptive criminal activity or have knowledge of such activity. With regard to the Democratic National Convention, the FBI did receive information that individuals were planning to conduct violent criminal activity to disrupt the convention held in Boston last month. Similar information was received regarding the Republican National Convention to be held later this month in New York. Based on this threat information the FBI conducted interviews, within the bounds of the U.S. Constitution, in order to determine the validity of the threat information. Violent acts are not protected by the U.S. Constitution and the FBI has a duty to prevent such acts and to identify and bring to justice those who commit them.”