According to testimony released by the House Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Weaponization of Federal Government and former and current FBI agents, the FBI’s bonus system encourages agents arbitrarily to use law enforcement tools such as wiretaps.

The committee released a report on Thursday morning, expressing concerns over “abuses in the FBI.” It included testimony from agents and an intelligence analyst. The report states that special agents in charge can receive year-end bonuses if they meet certain criteria, including those set by them. This encourages the deployment of law enforcement tools, such as wiretapping.

I think that meeting those metrics is a major driving force in the FBI. “I think it raises grave constitutional issues to tell law enforcement officers that they have to do XYZ so the boss can get his bonus,” FBI special agent Garret Boyle told the subcommittee. “Nobody says it this way, but that is certainly what is implied,” said FBI Special Agent Garret O’Boyle to the subcommittee.

There are many [metrics]. . . . One that I have had personal experience is. . . Title III wiretaps, or FISAs, or other sophisticated–sophisticated techniques,” he said. “At the start of the year, the SAC might have set a metric to get three Title IIIs. How do you know that you will get three? What if you do not get three? You won’t be marked as gold for that category if you don’t get three. “I think this leads to an ingrained culture whereby the manager or agent is the one who decides where the investigation will go, not the case.”

The report was based on the testimony of O’Boyle and Special Agent Garret Steven Friend. Supervisory Intelligence analyst George Hill, Staff Operations Specialist Marcus Allen and several former FBI workers who spoke to the subcommittee in an anonymous manner.