An FBI translator who was assigned to investigate the ISIS terrorist known as “Deso Dogg” in 2014 went rogue, married the man and then served two years in a federal prison before being released.
Unsealed federal court documents and follow-up research conducted by CNN and reported Monday evening has spotlighted a public-relations nightmare for the FBI.
Daniela Green, who joined the agency in 2011 and was granted a top-secret security clearance for work at its Detroit bureau, married the target of an investigation. She made a guilty plea to making false statements involving international terrorism and was released in August 2016.
“It’s a stunning embarrassment for the FBI, no doubt about it,” former State Department official John Kirby told CNN for a segment on “AC 360,” which aired at 8 p.m. EDT Monday.
“For her to be able to get in as an American, as a woman, as an FBI employee and to be able to take up residence with a known ISIS leader, that all had to be coordinated,” Mr. Kirby said.
The network’s timeline of events are as follows, although many details are still veiled in secrecy:
⦁ 2011: Ms. Greene joins the FBI as a linguist. She was born in Czechoslovakia, raised in Germany, and married a U.S. soldier.
⦁ January 2014: Ms. Greene investigates “Individual A” for the FBI.
⦁ June 2014: The translator, still married to a U.S. serviceman at the time, takes a one-way ticket to Istanbul. She then travels to Syria and marries Denis Cuspert, a former German rapper called Deso Dogg, also known to terrorists as Abu Talha al-Almani.
⦁ July 2014: Ms. Greene sends word that she made a mistake: “I was weak and didn’t know how to handle anything anymore. I really made a mess of things this time.”
⦁ August 2014: Authorities issue a warrant for Ms. Greene’s arrest. She manages to escape Syria from her own efforts and is taken into U.S. custody.
⦁ December 2014: Ms. Greene secretly pleads guilty.
⦁ February 2015: German newspapers publish details of the story, but mistakenly report that Mr. Talha al-Almani was tricked into the marriage as part of an operation.
⦁ May 2015: A judge unseals portions of Ms. Greene’s case.
⦁ August 2016: Ms. Greene is released from a federal prison.
The FBI and Ms. Greene were both contacted for CNN’s story, although the latter warned that she would be putting her family in danger is she provided details about her case.
The FBI issued a statement, saying the case prompted the agency to take “several steps in a variety of areas to identify and reduce security vulnerabilities. The FBI continues to strengthen protective measures in carrying out its vital work.”
Mr. Talha al-Almani is still at large after surviving an October 2015 airstrike near Raqqa, Syria.
He was declared a Specially Designated Global Terrorist by the State Department in February 2015.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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