SCFZ

Aaronson reports that through these elaborate and expensive sting operations involving informants and undercover agents posing as terrorists, the FBI has arrested—and the U.S. Justice Department has prosecuted—dozens of men who government officials say posed terrorist threats. He says evidence suggests, however, that some of those under FBI scrutiny did not have the capacity for terrorism were it not for FBI undercover agents providing the means, including weapons and logistical support.

Of these defendants caught up in FBI terrorism sting operations, an FBI informant was the person who led one of every three terrorist plots, and the FBI also provided all of the necessary weapons, money, and transportation.

Some of the FBI’s informants have strong financial incentives to find alleged terrorists, with the FBI rewarding them with $100,000 or more per case. Other informants are coerced into cooperating with the FBI for fear of deportation or criminal prosecution, records show.