I got a little note from William Barr's Department of Justice on Monday. Another bad man is off the street.

A Virginia man who previously served as a linguist for the FBI was arrested Saturday night on charges of making multiple false statements to FBI officials and obstructing a federal investigation. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney G. Zachary Terwilliger for the Eastern District of Virginia and Assistant Director in Charge Nancy McNamara of the FBI’s Washington Field Office made the announcement.

According to court documents, Abdirizak Jaji Raghe Wehelie, aka Haji Raghe, 66, of St. Burk, was a federal contractor for the FBI and worked as a linguist translating communications captured by court-authorized surveillance of a suspect (Person A) in a terrorism investigation. Wehelie allegedly intentionally misidentified his own voice that was captured when Person A left a voicemail message on Wehelie’s mobile telephone. When questioned by FBI investigators about this particular incident, Wehelie made several misleading and/or false statements...

...Wehelie is charged with making false statements to government officials and obstruction of a federal investigation. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 25 years in prison. Actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

While I respect the diligence of Barr and his G-men, I hope they're prepared for this guy's alibis for misleading federal investigators.

Maybe he was frustrated by the attention paid to him by law enforcement.

Maybe he was frustrated by "the media."

Maybe he was driven to these acts by "relentless speculation."

Maybe he had no alternative because he was "angered by a sincere belief" that the investigation was politically motivated.

I mean, this is a crime? Really? Who knew?

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Charles P. Pierce Charles P Pierce is the author of four books, most recently Idiot America, and has been a working journalist since 1976.

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