Fascinating stuff – thanks Annie.

P

All the issues about Korniloff aside, (and it appears that there are a bunch of ‘em), the untruths stated in American Gangster – not the least of which is the end slate about the NY DEA agents being convicted as a result of Lucas’ testimony – do a great disservice to the federal agents who brought Frank Lucas down.

Good luck with that lawsuit Mr. Amorosa!

On 24 Apr 85, at Fort McClellan, Alabama, I raised my right hand and swore an oath to “… support and uphold the Constitution and the laws of the United States; that I shall endeavor to discharge my responsibilities as a United States Army CID Special Agent in accordance therewith; that I shall at all times seek diligently to discover the truth, deterred neither by fear nor prejudice; and that I shall strive to be worthy of the special trust reposed in me by my country, the United States Army, and the Criminal Investigation Command.”

Greg Korniloff took an oath much like that one when he became a DEA Special Agent, and again when he moved to TSA. But evidently he got ‘badge-heavy’ somewhere along the way and came to believe that the law didn’t apply to him. Were this not so, Annie; your article wouldn’t cite all the trouble he’s in with the courts and, more importantly in some ways, the level of respect he receives from his subordinates. Good agents have good reputations. Good supervisors inspire their agents to chase leads with tact, persistence and passion. They get results the right way. Junior agents know a good team chief/ASAC/SAC when they see one. Evidently Korniloff is not a good leader, therefore he should not be leading. He is part of the problem, not part of the solution. Maybe he just didn’t transition well from DEA to TSA/FAMS.

Nexus.

Too many government departments that are charged with protecting the people of this country from another deadly terrorist attack are in their jobs because, once DHS was formed, they just slid by lateral appointment into their new jobs and did not earn them. This happened from the top down: “Hey, I got a TSA job appointment. If you want to come with me, pick your favorites and bring them along.”

I’m not sure how much this applies specifically to Korniloff but in the less violent days of the last three decades too many of these new “leaders” spent more time getting their Master’s Degree in International Affairs than they did studying the burgeoning terrorist threat and climbing down the throats of these killers. They became students, sharpening their pencils and CVs, paying little if any attention to their leadership skills, their courage, or their swords. Some of them are now totally committed to their pension and future corporate consultant jobs, not giving a tinker’s damn anymore about the oath they swore years ago, the one where they promised us we could trust them.

Simply because of how the agency was formed out of the DHS rib, TSA has more of these untrustworthy posers than any other federal law enforcement agency. Certainly there are warriors in there somewhere; probably going crazy, pounding on desks and walls, earning reputations up the chain as uneducated trouble-makers.

I know two good men who used to work with me who went to FAMS from the private sector. Both of them are back in the private sector now because of how badly that organization is run. It wasn’t about their devotion to their country; it was about working for people like Greg Korniloff.

To today’s TSA warriors: we salute you and remember you in our prayers.

To TSA pretenders: we would like you to do the honorable thing and retire now, making room for the unerschrocken.

To Korniloff: for you to assert that a movie portrayal injures you personally and that you are entitled to damages is beyond laughable given the circumstantial evidence piled up against you. Do the right thing.

To Korniloff’s boss: If he won’t do the right thing, you do it … fire him.

Annie; keep it up.