Update: Nov. 10:
The Associated Press sent a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder and FBI Director James Comey saying, "like anyone who has had his identity stolen, this misappropriation constitutes a theft of our reputation and credibility."
That is no comfort for the AP and other news organizations. We need to know who approved this action in 2007, what process was followed for its approval and how the requirements today to impersonate the media are different from seven years ago. We also want to know whether such operations are still authorized and being carried out. If so, we ask that they be ceased.
Most importantly, we want assurances that this won't happen again.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation director said an agent impersonated an Associated Press reporter in order to help capture a 15-year-old accused of making bomb threats in 2007, according to the news agency.
Last week it was reported that the FBI created a fake AP article on a phony Seattle Times web site to help catch the suspect, who was later convicted.
The AP reported:
The bogus article contained a software tool that could verify Internet addresses. The suspect clicked on a link, revealing his computer's location and Internet address, which helped agents confirm his identity.
"That technique was proper and appropriate under Justice Department and FBI guidelines at the time. Today, the use of such an unusual technique would probably require higher-level approvals than in 2007, but it would still be lawful and, in a rare case, appropriate," Comey wrote in a letter Thursday to The New York Times.
The AP's executive editor, Kathleen Carroll, said the FBI's tactic "doubles our concern and outrage, expressed earlier to Attorney General Eric Holder, about how the agency's unacceptable tactics undermine AP and the vital distinction between the government and the press."
Senator Patrick Leahy has criticized the FBI for creating a fake AP. Comey wrote to the Times that deception has always been a part of criminal investigations.
BuzzFeed News wrote in October that a U.S. government law enforcement agent created a fake Facebook page impersonating a young woman:
The Justice Department is claiming, in a little-noticed court filing, that a federal agent had the right to impersonate a young woman online by creating a Facebook page in her name without her knowledge. Government lawyers also are defending the agent's right to scour the woman's seized cell phone and to post photographs — including racy pictures of her and even one of her young son and niece — to the phony social media account, which the agent was using to communicate with suspected criminals.