HOUSE OVERSIGHT 030928 G:iint_Smith066474^eMailContentltm The newspapers and Browardbeat.com make clear that the Federal investigations that led to the arrests of County Commissioner Josephus Eggleston, former Miramar Commissioner Fitzroy Salesman and School Board member Bev Gallagher are just beginning. The FBI will be interviewing everyone from County Administrator Bertha Henry to bus drivers about anything and everything. They are looking for scalps. I suspect that if the average person thought about it, he would assume that when the FBI comes calling, like Joe Friday from DRAGNET, they ""want the facts and nothing but the facts."" Equally important they want an accurate record of that interview so they bring a court reporter or at the very least a tape recorder. The average person would be wrong. Agents bring a pencil and pad to take notes. They then prepare a summary of the interview called a "302 Report." If you are called as a witness at trial, prior to testifying, you will be given a copy of"Your 302" to review. It is a record of what the FBI insists you said at your previous meeting. If your interview lasted more than thirty seconds, it is guaranteed you will find numerous discrepancies. Some of them will be insignificant; some of them could be material. Ask two people to listen to you in a discussion about a traffic accident and then write a summary. It is a guaranteed they will have differences with each other as well as with you, the witness. You said, "I am reasonably sure that the traffic light was green". One report takes out the equivocation and quotes you as saying: "The light was green."" This brings us to Federal law 18 USC 1001. That statute makes it a felony to lie to the government. And guess who decides whether or not you were lying? The government. So here is your conundrum. Do you testify about your doubts about the light, which is the truth, or do you adopt the "302" version to avoid the wrath of the FBI? Whether