FBI Agent John Connolly: The Ongoing Tragedy

24 thoughts on “FBI Agent John Connolly: The Ongoing Tragedy”

1. Matt, That is the Essence of it ; bottom line there is a lot of water under the bridge and John Connolly got absolutely crucified. It is the blackest of marks on the Justice Department that he was hounded to a Florida hellhole on the thinnest of legal pretexts. It is indeed time he be allowed to walk free. This is all that matters now !!!

2. Kevin Weeks is a liar. It was his claim the John Connolly met him in front of the liquor store, and they walked inside, where Connolly told Weeks that indictments were coming down. That’s complete nonsense. Suppose for a second that Connolly is a corrupt Agent. He’s still an FBI Agent with over 25 years experience, and he knows how things work. The moment the heat is on and indictments are imminent, the FBI will start putting tails on people and surveillance on locations. Connolly would’ve known this. The LAST place Connolly would’ve met up with ANYONE would’ve been that liquor store, and he NEVER, EVER would’ve been foolish enough to meet up with Weeks. Connolly would’ve sent a lackey or some kid. The FBI has already stated that they had surveillance on Weeks; why did no one see Connolly? Why is Connolly not captured on a single surveillance photo? This is one of the biggest cases in Boston history, and they would’ve had manpower fly in from other cities to lend a hand. Nobody saw Connolly, and that’s a fact. And Morris? Even in the book, his testimony is unbelievable, and his crying act is starting to get real old.

   1. Andrew:

      In my book I said the same thing about Weeks – I noted prior to that supposed meeting Connolly and Weeks had never had any conversations – Connolly always dealt directly with Whitey and had to have considered Weeks as some sort of strong armed errand boy or counter boy at the liquor store. The last thing he was going to do was leave a message with him; or walk into the cooler with him three days before Christmas with the package store full of cops and customers and, as you properly note, under increased surveillance.
      The US Attorney testified that in early December of 1994 they put more surveillance out on Whitey and Flemmi so that they’d know where they were when the surveillance came down; nothing about that surveillance was ever made public. Also, there is no doubt that Connolly and Whitey still had ways to contact each other after Connolly left the FBI in 1990; whatever was their M.O. there was not reason for Connolly to change it since the message Weeks said he gave him was not of an emergency nature, it was the indictments are coming down after the holidays which would mean after New Year’s which happened.
      Even if we say Connolly was a dumb as mud and exposed himself to a thug he’d never dealt with before, at best all he would have said is “tell Whitey the indictments are coming down after the holidays.” But Weeks has him saying to him that only 4 FBI agents know about it and one of them is O’Callaghan. I cannot think of any reason Connolly would think Weeks would have to know that information. None. It makes no sense.
      Morris is Morris; a greedy guy willing to say anything to keep his pension and stay out of prison. His whole story is as suspect as Weeks’s – he tells us once Connolly gave him a case of wine and told him he had to take it because Connolly said if he didn’t Whitey and Stevie would be upset – it is as if any gangster who is an informant can bribe an agent and the agent has to be bribed.
      My bottom line with Connolly is no matter what he did he has spent enough time in prison and it is unjust that he spend another day there.

3. William, Just what about my statement … ” The seeds of the poison harvest in Florida were sown in the Boston Trial ” so confounded your usually rather crystalline powers of analysis ??? … I leave it lay there ; Let it Be .

4. * run through the Florida … wringer …

5. William, Oh you Contrarian 🙂 … My sympathies for John Connolly are evident in my comments. I indicated concisely my view that K.Weeks is not credible and rather than a half-baked approach to John’s innocence I went for the entire fully risen cake : I proposed that John needed to be seen as the Shining Knight from the get go, Boston to Florida, rather than defaulting to what seems a retrograde, though absolutely critical, defense of him in Florida. Let me re-state that Boston engendered Florida ; John got thrown out with the bathwater in Boston, and then got totally run through the Florida ringer.
   I am familiar, William, with your historical tenacious advocacy for John on this blog. I am also aware that Matt just as tenaciously rebuffed, not always refuted, William, but rebuffed your positions, and that in what seemed discouragement and/or frustration, you dropped off for a time. So, lighten up on the vitriol. You toss acid in a Friend’s direction. If you read my comments on this Post closely you will realize that I said more on John’s behalf in those few comments than many, excepting yourself, have said in numerous comments.

6. Kevin Weeks is a bold faced liar. Remember, he also said Whitey had a half-dozen machine gun totting FBI agents on his payroll, at his beck and call, but he couldn’t name one of them; he also said he saw envelopes with 20 boston cop names on it, but couldn’t name one of them — correction he guessed at one name and picked a wholly innocent cop who called Weeks accusation preposterous. Weeks said he was tipped off in December 1995 (1994?) in a walk-in beer closet by Connolly that indictments were coming down against Bulger: the problem is that Whitey and his girlfriend Terese Stanley both confirmed that the first time they heard an indictment was coming down was weeks after Weeks’ story, when Stanley and Bulger were driving home to Boston from a several week vacation in New Orleans and New York (including New Years Eve Parties), as I recall. REmember, too, that John Connolly was never charged with taking any money for himself: even the overly zealous federal prosecutors in Boston only charged JOhn with receiving a diamond ring (not guilty) and transmitting money from Bulger to Weeks (not guilty on two counts of transmitting money; guilty of one count of transmitting money.) That one count is the only count John Connolly was convicted of during his 23 years as an FBI agent. His other convictions were for actions which occurred five to ten years after he retired from the FBI, such things as “writing a letter to a judge” and “helping Flemmi” and “telling Weeks indictments were coming down”, the latter of which was common knowledge in Boston: many people knew indictments were coming down and Weeks’ story, as said, was refuted by Stanley. So, Mister Mac, au contraire, you really can believe that John Connolly was wholly innocent of all serious charges—the Boston jury acquitted him of all serious charges—while believing he exercised poor judgment by continuing his contacts with Flemmi or Weeks years after he retired from the FBI. I disagree with Matt only to this extent: I don’t believe anything John did before or after he retired from the FBI necessitated a lengthy prison sentence. I don’t believe the Boston jury’s findings, but even if I did, I agree with the one Boston juror who said he thought John would get probation; that juror said, many times on radio and television, that if he thought John was going to be sent to prison, he wouldn’t have convicted him of anything. I would have found JOhn not guilty on all charges in Boston, even of the minor charges, because they were based in whole or in part on the ever changing stories of serial killers and their associates: Martorano, Weeks, Morris (the admittedly corrupt FBI agent)Salemme (a multiply proven perjuror) and in Florida Flemmi ( a multiple admitted serial killer, admitted sexual predator, admitted drug dealer, and multiple admitted perjuror, who from his imprisonment in 1995 until just before his own trial for murder in 2003 (2002?) had repeatedly testified under oath that John Connolly was an “honest cop” and who as late as 2006, under oath, testified, according to David Boeri, that John Connolly “never did or said anything intending anyone be killed.” Stick those facts in all our pipes and smoke on them. Connolly was framed and railroaded, both in Boston and Florida, but most egregiously so in Florida. And I agree with O’Callaghan Way, that hundreds of Connolly’s friends remained steadfast in their belief in his innocence, and according to the Paul Rico book, thousands of FBI agents believe he was framed, too. The RICO book says there’s a split opinion on Connolly among FBI agents. I’ve observed that those who know John Connolly the best are convinced of his innocence, and those who only know John Connolly from what the Globe-Howie-Carr corrupt Southie-Haters tell them, believe him guilty. He must be guilty, Carr and the Globe columnists tell us: he’s a friend of Billy Bulger. Well, I’m a friend of John Connolly and Billy Bulger and I know both are innocent of the countless smears hurled at them by Federal Prosecutors, Globe reporters and the King of Slime, Howie Carr, Howie, the Corrupt Fatso Carr. So there you have it: In my calculation, those who know John Connolly best and who’ve known him over the lifetime, or who worked closely with him (Pistone and 100 FBI agents) are convinced of his innocence.
   Please God that the Appeals Court in Florida issues an honest decision and releases John immediately.

7. CONT’D ( damn edit box 🙂 ) ….. ” He (JC) is not pure as snow. He might have done some indiscreet things after he left the FBI such as trying to help out Steve Flemmi.” In closing you rightly lament the judicial travesty of the Florida conviction, and express your hope that John be freed.

   Can you have it both ways though Counselor ??? … You seem to be doing some judicious cherry picking here. FBI Agent John Connolly would seem to present a binary choice : either he was a Top OC TEI Program brilliant star in the FBI Firmament as an Agent working in the very darkest constellation of rogues imaginable or he was … ” One of the Gang ” as the nimble Kevin Weeks testified. It is an organic situation Matt. The seeds of the poisoned harvest in Florida were sown in the Boston Trial. If you choose to believe the nimble Kevin, and I am not entirely sure you did, that John Connolly gave him a heads up about indictments in the Rotary Liquors Walk In, then you are choosing ” Corrupt Connolly ” over ” Correctly Doing His Job Start To Finish Incorruptible and Uncorrupted FBI AGENT JOHN CONNOLLY !!! ” …. I suggest that you cannot have it both ways. You choose one or the other or, truly, you give John less than his …. Just Due !!!

8. Matt, Let me render that quote exactly which I realize I did not just do, as I give you no less always than your just due as opposed to John Connolly not being given due justice in Florida ; a point we absolutely agree upon !!! …… ” Remember the words of Fred Wyshak who when asked why John Connolly went wrong, assuming that he did which I do not …. ”
   You qualify this by Post’s end by reminding the Jury 🙂 that you are not a Connolly cheerleader by any means , and that clearly

   1. John:

      The other quote I didn’t understand and had to go back and see if I made it; but this cleared the air. I’ve had no Road to Damascus epiphany as you suggest because the quote is as you set out above. It is in reference to the Florida statement of Wyshak made after the Florida jury convicted Connolly. I’ve maintained that the Florida case is wrong and my statement was made in that light; that with respect to the matters charged in Florida I don’t think Connolly went wrong; rather, I think with respect to any conversation he had with Whitey (Jimmy as you would say) relative to John Callahan, if in fact he had any, it was part of his job as an FBI agent handling and approved top echelon informant. Connolly did nothing wrong that should have led to his conviction in Florida.
      Your are right that I have never suggested Connolly did no wrong; his letter to Wolf on behalf of Flemmi; his interactions with Weeks while helping out Flemmi; his uncashed checks as you mentioned; and other things make me stop from being a supporter of his. But his crimes do not reach the level that he should spend a minute more in jail than he has already served.

9. http:bluemassgroup.com/2013/04 … Quick review of why John Connolly is doing 40 years in a Florida Jail

   Matt, You seem to have had a Road To Damascus epiphany regarding … ” Where John Connolly went wrong . I don’t think he did. ” I recollect you wrestling mightily in previous comments with his sword and buckled supporters regarding his possible venality esp viz. his uncashed checks . That said you have always ardently maintained that he got a brutally unjust deal in Florida, as link above shows.

10. Matt, Just to let you know that FBI AGENT JOHN CONNOLLY still has numerous friends and supporters here in the BOSTON and surrounding areas. We all are still strong very active in supporting FBI AGENT JOHN CONNOLLY not few and feeble as you say. We have been there in the beginning and will be there as long as it takes. FBI AGENT JOHN CONNOLLY still has the support of over 100 FBI AGENTS and as I speak are working hard for JOHN. FBI AGENT JOHN CONNOLLY also still has the full support of the UNIV OF MIAMI INNOCENSE PROJECT who have vowed to stay the course and firmly believe in JOHNS Innocense. The 3rd dis Court of Appeals will come down with a OPPINION BY MAY 28th. As far as the trial in Florida it should never have happened. John had already been found innocent of these charges in federal court in Boston. The trial in Florida was a stacked deck against John. To watch federal and state prosecutors on the same court floor at the same time and same witness,s well rehearsed on questions and answers , no person had a fighting chance. What else would a jury think? AFTER THREE YEARS OF DELIGENTLY GOING OVER JOHNS REQUEST FOR RETRIAL OR ACQUITAL LET’S SEE WHAT THE 3RD COURT OF APPEALS COMES UP WITH ON 28th OF MAY?

    1. 251

       Thanks for the information. Could you update me more on the May 28th date. How did you arrive at it; what is the status of the case before the court of appeals. The last I knew is that it affirmed the lower court without a decision; is there some reason to believe it has changed its mind?

       I never understood why the double jeopardy issue was not raised. Nor, do I think there is much hope from the court which has sat on the matter which seems obviously wrong for 3 years to do something different.

    2. Today’s the day. Did the opinion come down?

11. Final Comment and Summation: 1. Connolly never held the murder weapon; 2. Connolly was never within arm’s reach of the murder weapon; AND 3. obviously Connolly never intended to “use the weapon during the commission of the crime.” THREE STRIKES AND WYSHAK STRIKES OUT!!!
    What happened to John Connolly in Florida is a true travesty of justice.

12. Matt, here are two provisions of Florida Enhancement statute. The first exempts law enforcement officers performing their lawful duties; the second states the crime can be enhanced if not in actual possession of the gun but the gun involved in the crime is within reach. On both counts, John Connolly is exempted from the Florida Enhancement Statute.
    “(4) For purposes of imposition of minimum mandatory sentencing provisions of this section [Enhancement Provision]}, with respect to a firearm, the term “possession” is defined as carrying it on the person. Possession may also be proven by demonstrating that the defendant had the firearm within immediate physical reach with ready access with the intent to use the firearm during the commission of the offense, if proven beyond a reasonable doubt.
    COMMENT:THE ZEALOT WYSHAK NEVER PROVED THAT CONNOLLY HELD THE GUN, HAD IT WITHIN IMMEDIATE PHYSICAL REACH nor INTENDED “TO USE THE FIREARM DURING THE COMMISSION OF THE OFFENSE.” Since enhancement doesn’t apply, Wyshak can’t use the Enhancement Statute’s Statute of Limitations provisions to extend the lapsed SOL of the Murder by Gun count.
    (5) This section does not apply to enforcement officers or to United States military personnel who are performing their lawful duties or who are traveling to or from their places of employment or assignment to perform their lawful duties.
    SECTION 5 OF THE ENHANCEMENT STATUTE ALSO EXCLUDES CONNOLLY FROM PROSECUTION/ENHANCEMENT.

    1. William”

       Your preaching to the converted. The idea a court would uphold a 40 years sentence for murder with a gun without writing an opinion smells to the high heavens. O’Callaghan Way seems to think there is some hope in a week or so; we’ll have to wait and see.

13. MATT, we’ll keep on saying this until we’re blue in the face, but no one in Florida seems to be listening: John Connolly was framed and railroaded by the Feds in Florida. Just a few points regarding the Florida prosecution. 1. DOUBLE JEOPARDY: It wasn’t Florida that tried John Connolly: it was Federal prosecutor Fred Wyshak and his federal team using all the resources of the Federal government; TO MY KNOWLEDGE, Wyshak was still on the Federal payroll; still in constant contact with his office during trial; and still controlled all the witnesses, having prepared almost all the witnesses for trial. Wyshak, a federal prosecutor, was the lead trial attorney in Florida; When the judge asked, “Does the prosecution have any questions?” It was Fred Wyshak who stood up in response. I witnessed this in person. Everyone knows that the FEDs tried Connolly twice for the same crime. It was a clear case of double jeopardy, except that Wyshak and his federal colleagues used the ruse and cover of a Florida courtroom to try Connolly a second time in Florida for a crime he was acquitted of in Boston: i.e. leaking info that led to Callahan’s death. 2. MURDER BY GUN: At Connolly’s sentencing even the trial judge STATED he agreed with the defense that (a) the statute of limitations had run and (b) the prosecution failed to prove an “essential element” of the crime: i.e. that Connolly held the murder weapon. The judge said, however, that the defense had raised these issues “too late.” Firstly, the statute of limitations defense can be raised at any time and failure to raise it is “per se ineffective assistance of counsel” necessitating a new trial, according to SCOTUS. Secondly, no new trial could take place because as the judge conceded the defense failed to prove an essential element of the crime. Connolly should have and would have been freed four years ago if the Florida Appeals Court issued a written decision, however it failed to write anything but “lower court decision affirmed.” 3. Long ago, my friend Chester Darling, wondered aloud why Connolly’s lawyers were not in Federal Court on a writ of habeas corpus. It’s crystal clear the sol had run, the defense failed to prove an essential element of the crime, and the trial judge failed to “properly instruct the jury” or failed to direct a verdict of acquittal as soon as he realized the SOL had run. 4. Wyshak’s duplicitous “reasoning” runs something like this: Because Connolly held his FBI service revolver at some time before, during or after the crime, the “murder by gun” statute applies; this contradicts Florida’s own interpretation of its statute: Florida’s highest court had written previously that you actually had to have held the murder weapon at the time of the crime; in fact, Wyshak introduced no evidence at trial that Connolly held any gun, Wyshak merely argued after trial that Connolly must have been holding some gun in Massachusetts before or during the time of the murder. Connolly was on vacation in Martha’s Vineyard at the time of murder. 5. On the statute of limitations argument, Wyshak argued that a subsequent piece of legislation changing the statute of limitations for “all crimes committed with a gun”, an ENHANCEMENT STATUTE both increasing penalties and extending the SOL, somehow altered the SOL that applied at Connolly’s trial. My understanding is you change the SOL directly for each statute, not by a general broad based law. Moreover, if the enhancement statute applied to crimes committed by “gun” it could not apply to Connolly because he committed no crime by gun, and Wyshak failed to present any evidence at trial that Connolly held a gun. You can’t argue by inference that someone held a gun at the time of the crime because he usually held a gun, that is he was a known cop or a known gunman; you have to present some EVIDENCE of that fact. Again, even if Wyshak proved that ALL FBI agents usually carry guns, that’s a far stretch from proving a particular FBI agent held the murder weapon at the time of the trial.
    6. Finally, remember John Connolly was acquitted in Florida BOTH of first degree murder and conspiracy to commit murder. He was convicted of “murder of gun.” The “murder by gun” charged was added after the close of trial by Wyshak, in a desperate ploy that after all the dirt he threw at Connolly, a confused jury would convict Connolly of something. In summary: TWO PROBLEMS: THE STATUTE OF LIMITATION HAD RUN ON THE “MURDER BY GUN” COUNT, AND WYSHAK NEVER PROVED AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT OF THE CRIME: THAT CONNOLLY HELD THE MURDER WEAPON IN HIS HANDS AT THE TIME OF THE CRIME, A PHYSICAL IMPOSSIBILITY for someone swimming in the waters of Cape Cod.

14. Great post.Whitey terrorized the city as much as Global Warming did in the 70s and 80s. You are 100% correct few if any knew who he was or what GW was. How are you frightened by something you haven’t heard of? How many Americans were afraid of Boko Haram 15 years ago? A complete media invention. Wyshak is a disturbed person. He has nightmares about the people from Southie. He is similar to Inspector Dreyfus in the Pink Panther films. Totally obsessed with Inspector Clouseau. He is overwhelmed by his desire to get Bill Bulger. He failed in that regard and it gnaws at him constantly. One thing a person learns in high school is ” don’t believe what you read in the newspapers”. Much of it is fabricated or embellished. Yet Wyshak along with others fell for story. The WB story caused great excitement in weak minds and the media ran with it. 2. What about justice in Florida. Is there any? When the trial judge states in open court that the Statute of Limitations has expired in Connolly’s case he still sentences him. No evidence is offered on essential elements of the crime and he has previously been acquitted of the exact charge ( leaking information that led to Callahan’s death)by a Boston jury. A clear case of double jeopardy. Rushdie said that we live in a dumbed down, frightened age. Maybe the Feds have everyone in that state intimidated. 3. Is your take on Todashev altered after the disclosure that MacFarlane was the shooter? Does the FBI hire enforcers and goons the way NHL teams do? Nothing about that case or the Boston Marathon case passes the smell test. The FBI has been false in both matters. At one time it was a quality organization. In the 80s it put the Mafia hierarchy on the East Coast in prison. It put the thieves on Wall St.( Boesky, Millikan and D. Levine) behind bars. Today it is a bureaucratized, ossified entity on the lines of an old Soviet department. It’s only interest is in self promotion and expansion. It claims it has a flawless shooting record. 151 foe 151. Only North Korea claims similar perfection. Obeying the law seems like an alien concept to it and the NSA. Along with the NSA,AID, NED, CIA, DOD and DOJ major overhaul is needed. Doesn’t there have to be one honest Federal judge in the state? Send a habeas corpus petition to every Federal judge. One might be interested in justice and the U S Constitution.

    1. NC:
       1. If we could look into Wyshak’s mind we’d probably see that the brought the case against O’Brien in the hope of getting something on Chris Bulger – Billy is Wyshak’s big white whale. I wonder how that came about. Wyshak grew up in Hyde Park – did he get beat up by some Southie kids at the St. Pat’s parade; or did he go to the parade the year it was cancelled and got upset so he swore vengeance against Southie. It has to be one or those two things.
       2. O’Callaghan Way tells us we’ll know more about Florida justice later this month. Maybe the appeals court knew the trial judge screwed up but because Connolly was POOF it decided that he should spend a few years in prison even though he was innocent. My sense though is that they won’t help Connolly but I hope I’m wrong.
       3. As I said in another reply to a comment – the FBI has got caught up in its deceptions and now things are utterly tangled. MacFarlane likes the rough stuff it seems. The FBI took a guy with a disability and made him an agent; I think they lowered their standards because finding the right type of person to bring on board is harder and harder. One used to have to be a lawyer or an accountant. I don’t know if MacFarlane evern got a GED. When we need the best we seem to be getting the rest. That’s why it has the ongoing coverup on its shooting.
       4. I think most judges are honest; but they like their jobs and perks and don’t want to make waves.

15. Matt,

    You are giving alliteration a good name again : ” A profound pararadox proposed by people profiting from the pernicious proposition ” is some accurate gunnery. I salute you.

    BOSTON BAMBOOZLED will be a book the anticipated release of which will give many Bulger chroniclers some serious agita. It is the last thing the fable merchants expect and their underbellies are very white and very exposed. Perhaps surprisingly I cut Howie C. a certain amount of slack for some of his colorful imagineering as he was dragooned into ” WhiteyWorld” as he recently called it, and say what we will the doughty Portlander is an irascible cuss in his own right. Others just jumped on the bandwagon. If it bleeds it leads as the saying goes. I am very curious whether your book will be a sort of critical gloss of easily detected fabrications by the band members, or whether you will address forensically how inconsistent statements made at different times, under different circumstances, about the same particular event, by any particular witness…. STEVIE FLEMMI … formally modelled the ethical environment that made possible the John Connolly railroading and the James Bulger portmanteau status as being responsible for any and all murders for the last forty years. I think that again, your talents as a prosecutor and a writer who has had skin in the game all down the line, is going to make for some good old fashioned hell on the Main. 🙂

    John Connolly did have and presumably has still the support of the 100 RETIRED FBI AGENTS WHO SUPPORT JOHN CONNOLLY. Former FBI Superstar of DONNIE BRASCO fame, Joe Pistone is in their number. He has spoken strongly and since the beginning on John’s behalf. Where are the U. Of Miami INNOCENCE PROJECT legal eaglets on this these days ???

    1. John:

       Thanks for the appreciation of the alliteration. I’ve mixed feelings on Howie. He’s the pusher of Judge Daher’s “corrupt midget” slander of Billy Bulger which through a constant drumming aided much in bringing about Billy’s downfall. In person he doesn’t seem like a malicious guy but deep down that’s how he earns his bread by tearing down others; not such a nice way to go through life. But compared to the Black Vile from the Boston Globe writers Howie would have to take a back seat.
       Question whether I’ll write a “critical gloss of easily detected fabrications” or “address forensically how inconsistent statements” etc is a good one. It forces me to think about what exactly it is I hope to accomplish with the book. I’ll have to sit on an answer for now because I really don’t know how to answer you at this point. But thanks for posing the questions.
       I know that 100 or so retired FBI agents support John Connolly but that and two bucks won’t get you a grande at Starbucks; there should be 1000s of agents giving their support for him. It doesn’t surprise me that they are all so timid – the mark of the FBI agent that I’ve observed is not to step out of line. As for the Miami project, O’Callahan Way tells us something will happen later this month. I’m trying to find out more from him but it would be good if something happens to let the poor guy see the street again.

16. The FBI threw John Connolly under the bus. They’re now going back 20-30 years hence, and trying to impose today’s morals on yesterday’s actions. Thirty years ago, they needed guys like Connolly to get in down and dirty to the action. That’s the only way to get under the “skin” of the conspiracy of organized crime. The word “conspiracy” means to breathe together, and without guys like Connolly willing to risk his livelihood, organized crime would still be running the government. Bulger never would’ve cooperated with Connolly if Connolly treated him like street trash. Connolly had to show him respect and like a buddy. That’s the only way the FBI can “breathe together” with mobsters. Now that the war is over, they don’t like how it was done 30 years ago. I never believed the case against Connolly, and I never will. I’m sure Wyshak reviews this website regularly. Unfortunately for the people, Wyshak has no credibility in my honest opinion.

    1. Andrew:

       A few points to your post with which I agree. The FBI today is still down and dirty with Top Echelon Informants. Remember Rossetti and the FBI agent telling him “my job is to keep you safe.” Tell me what that means; what’s the FBI agent planning to do.
       I disagree that Connolly thought he was risking anything. I believe he thought he was doing what his bosses in the FBI wanted him to do. He was following the game plan exactly as it had been set out. What he could never know was the FBI would turn on him in a great panic and leave him hanging. You have to ask why did the FBI do that.
       You are absolutely right on the relationship between a handler and his informant. They do become friends. I’ve worked with good cops who had informants and they became close because unless you’ve got someone jammed in (the usual way the FBI gets informants and information) no informant is going to inform on their friends unless they have developed a relationship with their handler. It’s basically human nature; they have to work together with each one seeking to get what he wants.
       As I see it, Connolly was doing his job. J. Edgar Hoover on down wanted him to do what he did. Every SAC and ASAC and most supervisors in the FBI knew what he was doing. I have always found it appalling that the FBI would have Whitey and Stevie as informants; but that’s what it wanted and it told Connolly that in bringing them on board he was doing what he should be doing. The problem is none of this has been explored. The FBI is happy that is the case because it cares for nothing more than to protect its name and because of that Connolly became expendable.

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