FBI agent vows ‘vengeance’ on company after infiltrating OC mosque

A rogue former FBI agent who claims he infiltrated a Southern California mosque has vowed “vengeance” on the bureau, accusing it of breaking guarantees by permitting him to be jailed for theft and shorting him $100,000 he claims it owed him.

Craig Monteilh, 63, of Irvine, Orange County, is on the middle of a authorized battle that has spiraled from a easy lawsuit right into a legislative roller-coaster that’s now again earlier than the US Supreme Court docket.

The previous asset is now at struggle with each the bureau and the ACLU, after he retracted his earlier declaration, signed beneath penalty of perjury, alleging he carried out covert actions at an Orange County mosque, Politico reported.

“The FBI has earned my vengeance,” Monteilh mentioned in one of many emails later filed in court docket.

“I’m not an informant. I’m not your snitch. I’m not the man you bought leverage on. I’m an expert operative. I’m an unbiased contractor,” Monteilh mentioned.

“For those who f**ok me like that, I’m going to show round and do the identical factor to you,” he mentioned. “Ultimately, whether or not it’s a portion or the entire thing, that’s my cash. … If the FBI is aware of one factor, they’ll by no means, ever neglect my title.”

Monteilh’s battles with the FBI began when he claimed that, between 2006 and 2007, he infiltrated the Islamic Middle of Irvine utilizing the pseudonym Farouk al-Aziz, recording hundreds of hours of audio and video as a part of “Operation Flex.”

Simply two months earlier than Monteilh’s alleged subterfuge started, high FBI official Stephen Tidwell had spoken on the similar mosque to reassure Muslims that the company wouldn’t ship undercover brokers to spy on their homes of worship.

Monteilh even claimed his spying helped result in Osama bin Laden’s demise in 2011, after he recorded the brother-in-law of bin Laden’s bodyguard, Amin al-Haq, which led to al-Haq’s arrest in 2008.

Al-Haq later revealed bin Laden’s whereabouts in Abbottabad, Pakistan, the place the Al Qaeda chief was killed by US Navy SEALS, Monteilh claimed in an electronic mail filed in court docket.

That very same 12 months, after Monteilh went public, the ACLU sued the FBI for spiritual discrimination on behalf of Muslim congregants in Irvine, after a choose dismissed a lawsuit Monteilh had filed in opposition to the bureau in 2010.

In 2022, the Supreme Court docket dominated unanimously that the Overseas Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) doesn’t override the federal government’s proper to assert “state secrets and techniques.”

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Now, in a bombshell twist reported this week, Monteilh has distanced himself from his earlier collaboration with the ACLU, admitting that his declaration that he spied on a mosque was “not correct” and contained “50–60% lies,” based on an electronic mail despatched to attorneys on either side final summer season.

“Many of the data the ACLU… and I made up. I don’t stand by that data,” Monteilh mentioned within the electronic mail, additionally accusing two ACLU attorneys of “willfully” overlooking data he wished included as a result of it “wouldn’t look good for the lawsuit.”

The ACLU attorneys, Peter Bibring and Ahilan Arulanantham, have each “emphatically” denied Monteilh’s claims in a court docket submitting.

The Supreme Court docket justices are anticipated to announce shortly whether or not they may dismiss the case or ship it again to a decrease court docket for a public listening to, the place Monteilh would get the possibility to publicly testify and denounce the FBI.

“My plan is working. The Supreme Court docket, once they’re prepared, goes to [send it] again to Santa Ana. And once they do, I’ll be prepared,” Monteilh informed Politico.

Neither the FBI nor the ACLU instantly responded to requests for remark.