◆ SpookStack

a a - . Co - ot d < . The Voice of the People . 7 rele ; ro Chicago Tribune aay : * -; 60611 Vinee a Sa oe #, TE Chicago, Mi tinois”, ‘ - -It is disturbing that ABSCAM, like Watergate, is fast becoming household word, thanks to an overkill by some segments of the news media. The Washington Post, the American Civil Liberties Union - (ACLU) and Walter Cronkite are leading the charge, hurling verbal brickbats at the FBI, accusing them in a familiar scenario of abuses _ .of power in the name of entrapment. It is ironic I think that the F Post, the ACLU, Cronkite and their ilk, while suggesting that the \)’ : victims of ABSCAM are being unfairly maligned in a trial by news media, are at the same time putting the FBI on trial in the media, I am confident that the majority of the American people agree that neither the victims of ABSCAM nor the FBI should be so maligned, In the last analysis, it boils down to a matter of accountability. ‘Fortunately, the law enforcement community in this country is strictly accountable to our judicial system for all of its actions. The evidence collected by the FBI in the ABSCAM investigation, and the manner in which it was collected, will eventually be scrutinized by an assortment of admissibility tests prescribed by the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure before it can be used against a single defendant. The evidence must survive all of the pretrial motions an examination of the trial court and, ultimately, the appellat procedures. These procedures and others constitute full acco bility by the FBI for its actions. To whom are the representatives of the news media accountabl4@? I submit they should be accountable, in a democratic society, nly to the truth as characterized by objective and impartial report? ABSCAM suggests that some elected officials and others may have been caught with their hands in the "cookie jar." Ultimately, the admissibility of the ABSCAM evidence will be tested and perhaps weighed by a jury. If the ABSCAM victims feel they are being tried unfairly by the media, the press might be well advised to exercise some restraint and not to compound the problem, as some media ‘representatives and the ACLU are doing by accusing the FBI of €ntrapment or unethical behavior, when these media representatives are not yet privy to any of the evidence or the details surrounding G its collection, oes . ‘ ; _jb- ~ Retired Special Agent In Charge (ak awe em em ee - - , 4 E i - : . foes “ , °S , - weet nha < ’ : . . x