INTERPOL IN A TEAPOT

[Many TTPers have expressed concern over the recent (12/17/09) Amending of Executive Order 12425 granting certain "privileges, exemptions, and immunities" to the International Criminal Police Organization or Interpol. We are pleased to have TTPer Brent Moody, former Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement at the Treasury Department address these concerns.]

Mr. Obama’s EO12425 has created considerable paranoia within the conservative blogosphere.  Email alerts and warnings entitled U.S. placed under Interpol authority and jurisdiction by Presidential Fiat and suchlike have become widespread. 

I believe the brouhaha over revoking certain exceptions from exemptions for Interpol and its officials from the International Organizations Immunities Act (IOIA) – exceptions instituted by President Reagan – is based upon misperceptions of what Interpol is and by whom it is staffed here in the US. [See Addendum for texts of both]

Although Interpol is considered a "law enforcement" body, it has no agents and no arrest powers. Interpol exists for the sole purpose of gathering information about criminal activities and terrorism and sharing this information with its member countries.  The information so gathered comes from law enforcement agencies within the 188 member countries of Interpol.  

When Interpol was reorganized after World War II, the US became a member with J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI as its representative.  In 1958, the US Treasury Department became the official US representative; in 1969 the US National Central Bureau (USNCB) was created as a Treasury agency specifically to be Interpol’s US representative.

Thus, when I was Deputy Assistant Secretary for Enforcement at Treasury in 1973-74, the USNCB was under my general supervision. It was staffed by personnel "loaned" to it by the U.S. Secret Service;  the head of the USNCB was Ken Giannoules, a Secret Service Agent.

When the omnibus reorganization of Federal law enforcement agencies occurred in the aftermath of 9-11, all of Treasury’s law enforcement responsibilities were transferred to either the Justice Department or Homeland Security. The USNCB was transferred to Justice, and to the best of my knowledge, is staffed by FBI or DOJ employees.

The Director of the USNCB, Timothy Williams, is a 23-year veteran of the U.S. Marshalls Service. The current Secretary General of Interpol itself is Ron Noble, a former Under Secretary for Enforcement of the Treasury and former Ass’t. U.S. Attorney and Deputy Ass’t. Attorney General of the U.S.

The fuss over the revocation of Reagan’s exemption exceptions from the terms of the IOIA is a non-issue as far as I’m concerned. While I was at Treasury the exemptions were in place, and we never had a problem as a result of them.

In fact, in a case I’m familiar with, the Church of Scientology sought to obtain certain information possessed by the Treasury Dept., the Secret Service and the USNCB in a FOIA lawsuit. The federal court ruled that the information did not have to be provided because of exemptions granted by the FOIA on the grounds of "executive privilege." 

Interpol is headquartered in Lyon, France, and the only time international Interpol officials would be in the U.S. would be incidental to the operations of the USNCB, which as I say is staffed and maintained by the DOJ. The idea of Interpol "agents" running around is absurd, because there are no Interpol agents — no James Bonds.

Interpol has proven very effective in the exchange of information, especially information concerning terrorists and terrorism. No U.S. sovereignty is at stake, because the officials of the USNCB are U.S. law enforcement officials.   

I believe this is a tempest in the proverbial teapot. I do not believe this involves a conspiracy to undermine U.S. sovereign or the U.S. anti-terrorism effort. If anything, Interpol and the USNCB enhances the U.S. effort to gather and exchange information.  As a lawyer, I have looked at the IOIA law granting immunities to Interpol personnel.  Why Mr. Reagan revoked them I frankly do not know.

What I do know is that they were in effect during my time at Treasury and we had no instances of concern over them.  It is for this reason that I see no basis for concern over their reimplementation by EO12425.

Granted, even though the Interpol charter expressly forbids any involvement by the organization in political matters or politically-related crimes, it’s possible that Holder’s DOJ has some nefarious purpose in revoking the Reagan exemptions from the immunities of the IOIA.  

But no one has spelled out what that could be – or how it could be, given that there are no "international Interpol agents" with police powers in foreign countries.  Fears that "Jihadists can infiltrate Interpol and you and I will be whisked off to never-never land" have no basis that I can see.  Our current government has taken a multitude of actions over which we could lose sleep.  I have no grounds to think this is one of them.

I look forward to continuing discussion of this issue with my fellow TTPers on the Forum.

Brent Moody is now a practicing attorney in Phoenix, Arizona.

Addendum:

Below are the texts of the Reagan and Obama EO12425.  Reagan added the exception (hyperlinked to the IOIA so you can read the law) to the original EO; Obama deleted the exception reverting the EO back to the original.

Executive Order 12425
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and statutes of the United States, including Section 1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act (59 Stat. 669, 22 U.S.C. 288), it is hereby ordered that the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), in which the United States participates pursuant to 22 U.S.C. 263a, is hereby designated as a public international organization entitled to enjoy the privileges, exemptions and immunities conferred by the International Organizations Immunities Act; except those provided by Section 2(c), the portions of Section 2(d) and Section 3 relating to customs duties and federal internal-revenue importation taxes, Section 4, Section 5, and Section 6 of that Act. This designation is not intended to abridge in any respect the privileges, exemptions or immunities which such organization may have acquired or may acquire by international agreement or by Congressional action.

Ronald Reagan
The White House,
June 16, 1983.

Executive Order 12425
By virtue of the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and statutes of the United States, including Section 1 of the International Organizations Immunities Act (59 Stat. 669, 22 U.S.C. 288), it is hereby ordered that the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL), in which the United States participates pursuant to 22 U.S.C. 263a, is hereby designated as a public international organization entitled to enjoy the privileges, exemptions and immunities conferred by the International Organizations Immunities Act. This designation is not intended to abridge in any respect the privileges, exemptions or immunities which such organization may have acquired or may acquire by international agreement or by Congressional action.

Barack Obama
The White House
December 16, 2009