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WORK TITLE: Long Haul
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WEBSITE: https://frankfigliuzzi.com/fbiway/long-haul/
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PERSONAL
Born September 12, 1962; married Coleen Button (deceased).
EDUCATION:Fairfield University, B.A., 1984; University of Connecticut, J.D.; also studied at Harvard University and Northwestern University.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Counterintelligence official and corporate security executive. Federal Bureau of Investigation, on staff, beginning 1987, special agent, worked for twenty-five years, Office of Professional Responsibility unit chief, beginning 1998, chief inspector, beginning 2005, head of the Cleveland Division, assistant director for counterintelligence, 2011-12; General Electric, assistant chief security officer, worked for five years. Has also been a columnist for NBC News and MSNBC on national security issues; has appeared on television programs.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Frank Figliuzzi is a former counterintelligence official with the FBI who turned his professional experience into a writing career. He contributes a regular columnist for NBC News and MSNBC on national security issues. Figliuzzi appears regularly on television programs to discuss noteworthy national security matters and also worked as a corporate security executive.
The FBI Way
Figliuzzi used his three decades of personal experience working for the FBI to inform his The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau’s Code of Excellence. Figliuzzi credits the agency’s professionalism to the seven C’s: Code, Conservancy, Clarity, Consequences, Compassion, Credibility, and Consistency. He outlines the difficult training program to enter the FBI, where both physical and mental abilities are tested and also how not following any one aspects of the seven C’s can lead to an abrupt end to one’s career with the FBI. Figliuzzi offers examples of how internal cases were handled and how agents dealt with publicized events by employing the seven C’s.
In an interview in Smashing Interviews, Figliuzzi shared his motivations for writing The FBI Way. He admitted: “I swore I’d never write a book about my FBI career or the inside workings of the Bureau, but I was prompted to do it after four years of hearing the institution I love bashed, the institution I dedicated 25 years to maligned on a daily basis. And I think, even more importantly, the men and women of the FBI being harangued by the highest levels of our government.” Figliuzzi contended: “I had enough of that, and I needed to kind of preserve the public perception or attempt to set the record straight about the FBI because the bottom line is the FBI can’t succeed without the trust of the American people.”
Reviewing the book in the Cosy Dragon, Rose Herbert reasoned that “in a world where integrity is paramount, the author’s work serves as a beacon of inspiration, offering practical insights for navigating complex ethical dilemmas.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor labeled it “a surprisingly middle-of-the-road book.” A contributor to Officer.com remarked that “The FBI Way is an excellent resource for all who would like to strive towards a higher standard; especially those in law enforcement.” Booklist contributor Philip Zozzaro opined that the “book shines as a positive view of the storied agency.”
Long Haul
In Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers, Figliuzzi looks at the FBI special unit that undertook the 2021 Highway Serial Killings Initiative. This agency effort solved around 850 murders by linking the deaths to long-haul truckers. Figliuzzi rode with a trucker to get a better understanding of trucking culture and met with women who he deemed to be most likely to fall victim to murder by a trucker and those who survived their attackers.
A contributor to Publishers Weekly said that Figliuzzi’s “blend of thorough research and immersive storytelling takes readers deep inside the conundrum. It’s fascinating stuff.” A Kirkus Reviews contributor found it to be “compelling reading for true-crime enthusiasts, especially those intrigued by the psychology of serial killers.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Booklist, November 1, 2020, Philip Zozzaro, review of The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau’s Code of Excellence, p. 4.
Kirkus Reviews, October 15, 2020, review of The FBI Way; May 15, 2024, review of Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers.
Publishers Weekly, March 4, 2024, review of Long Haul.
ONLINE
Cosy Dragon, https://www.thecosydragon.com/ (April 14, 2024), review of The FBI Way.
Cybercrime, https://cybersecurityventures.com/ (February 19, 2021), Amanda Glassner, “Frank Figliuzzi on the FBI Way and Cybersecurity.”
Fairfield News, https://www.fairfield.edu/ (June 15, 2024), “Alumni Profile: Frank Figliuzzi ’84.”
Federal Bureau of Investigation website, https://www.fbi.gov/ (February 7, 2011), “C. Frank Figliuzzi Appointed as Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division.”
Frank Figliuzzi website, https://frankfigliuzzi.com (June 15, 2024).
Officer.com, http://www.officer.com/ (March 1, 2021), review of The FBI Way.
Smashing Interviews, https://smashinginterviews.com/ (January 12, 2021), author interview.
Frank Figliuzzi is a national security contributor and regular columnist for NBC News and MSNBC. He was the assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI, where he served 25 years as a special agent and directed all espionage investigations across the government. He is the author of “The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau’s Code of Excellence.”
Frank Figliuzzi was the FBI’s Assistant Director for Counterintelligence and served 25 years as a Special Agent. In his current role as a respected National Security Analyst, Frank appears weekly on live television for NBC and MSNBC news. Frank held senior FBI leadership positions in major American cities and was appointed the FBI’s Chief Inspector by then Director Robert Mueller to oversee sensitive internal inquiries, shooting reviews, and performance audits. Following his FBI career, Frank became a corporate security executive for a Fortune 10 company and led global Investigations, Insider Threat, Workplace Violence Prevention, and Special Event security for 200,000 employees in 180 countries.
As the Bureau’s head of Counterintelligence, Mr. Figliuzzi directed all espionage investigations across the U.S. government. Frank frequently briefed the White House, Congress, and the Attorney General. Mr. Figliuzzi directed an FBI internal disciplinary unit in the Office of Professional Responsibility and adjudicated allegations of serious misconduct against FBI personnel. Frank is the author of THE FBI WAY: Inside the Bureau’s Code of Excellence (HarperCollins).
Frank Figliuzzi at the FBI
Frank is most noted for his clear and compelling television commentary regarding the Special Counsel investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential campaign, and coverage of tragic mass shootings. His FBI career highlights include: Leading the FBI’s efforts to counter economic espionage in Silicon Valley, California; Overseeing major financial crimes and public corruption investigations in Miami, Florida, and Cleveland, Ohio; Serving as on-scene commander of the largest HAZMAT evidence recovery effort in FBI history at the Boca Raton, Florida, site of the nation’s first anthrax murder; and, Publicly explaining the FBI’s successful operation against ten Russian sleeper agents inside the United States.
Mr. Figliuzzi earned a Juris Doctorate cum laude from the University of Connecticut School of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Literature from Fairfield University. Frank completed certificate programs at the Harvard University National Security Program for Senior Executives in Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, and at Northwestern University’s executive course on Leading Strategic Change at the Kellogg School of Management. He is a sought-after speaker, panelist and instructor on leadership, violence prevention, risk management, and the external and internal threats facing the United States.
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Frank Figliuzzi
Assistant Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation for Counterintelligence
In office
February 7, 2011 – July 31, 2012
Succeeded by Robert Anderson, Jr.[1]
Personal details
Born Cesare Frank Figliuzzi, Jr.[2][3]
September 12, 1962 (age 61)[2]
Education Fairfield University (B.A.)
University of Connecticut School of Law (J.D.)
Profession Law enforcement agent
Website frankfigliuzzi.com
Cesare Frank Figliuzzi, Jr. (born September 12, 1962) is a former federal law enforcement agent. He is the former assistant director for counterintelligence at the Federal Bureau of Investigation.[4] Figliuzzi was previously the special agent in charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Cleveland Division, which includes all of northern Ohio, and the major cities of Cleveland, Toledo, Youngstown, Akron, and Canton.[5] Following his FBI service, Figliuzzi joined General Electric and served for five years as assistant chief security officer for investigations, insider threat, workplace violence prevention, and special event security for GE's 300,000 employees in 180 countries. Figliuzzi is currently a frequent national security contributor for NBC and MSNBC News.
Education
Figliuzzi earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from Fairfield University and a Juris Doctor with honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law.[4] Figliuzzi also completed the Harvard University National Security Program for Senior Executives in Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government.[4]
Career
Figliuzzi joined the FBI as a special agent in August 1987 and has worked for the FBI in the Atlanta and Washington, D.C., headquarters, and the San Francisco, Miami, and Cleveland offices.[4] He was the assistant special agent in charge of the Miami Field Office, the FBI's fifth largest office.[4] Figliuzzi also served as the FBI's chief inspector from December 2005 until his appointment as head of the Cleveland Division.[4] As Assistant Director, he was based at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., and worked closely with other government executives.[6]
Figliuzzi discusses the recent Russian spy case and its implications.
In February 2011 then-director Robert Mueller appointed Figliuzzi assistant director of the FBI's Counterintelligence Division.[4]
Frank Figliuzzi was the FBI’s Assistant Director for Counterintelligence and served 25 years as a Special Agent. In his current role as a respected National Security Analyst, Frank regularly appears on live television for NBC and MSNBC news. Frank held senior FBI leadership positions in major American cities and was appointed the FBI’s Chief Inspector by then Director Robert Mueller to oversee sensitive internal inquiries, shooting reviews, and performance audits. Following his FBI career, Frank became a corporate security executive for a Fortune 10 company and led global Investigations, Insider Threat, Workplace Violence Prevention, and Special Event security for 300,000 employees in 180 countries.
As the Bureau’s head of Counterintelligence, Mr. Figliuzzi directed all espionage investigations across the U.S. government. Frank frequently briefed the White House, Congress, and the Attorney General. During Frank’s FBI career, he led the FBI’s Cleveland Field Office, was the second ranking official in the FBI’s Miami Division, ran squads in San Francisco, and worked investigations in Atlanta. Mr. Figliuzzi directed an FBI internal disciplinary unit in the Office of Professional Responsibility and adjudicated allegations of serious misconduct against FBI personnel.
Frank is most noted for his clear and compelling television commentary regarding the Special Counsel investigation of Russian interference in the 2016 U.S. Presidential campaign. His FBI career highlights include: Leading the FBI's efforts to counter economic espionage in Silicon Valley, California; Overseeing major financial crimes and public corruption investigations in Miami, Florida, and Cleveland, Ohio; Serving as on-scene commander of the largest HAZMAT evidence recovery effort in FBI history at the Boca Raton, Florida, site of the nation's first anthrax murder; and, Publicly explaining the FBI’s successful operation against ten Russian sleeper agents inside the United States.
Mr. Figliuzzi earned a Juris Doctorate cum laude from the University of Connecticut School of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts Degree in English Literature from Fairfield University. Frank completed certificate programs at the Harvard University National Security Program for Senior Executives in Government at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, and at Northwestern University’s executive course on Leading Strategic Change at the Kellogg School of Management. He is a sought-after speaker, panelist and instructor on violence prevention, risk management, and the external and internal threats facing the United States.
C. Frank Figliuzzi Appointed as Assistant Director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division
Washington, D.C.
February 07, 2011
FBI National Press Office
(202) 324-3691
Director Robert S. Mueller, III has named Connecticut native C. Frank Figliuzzi assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. Mr. Figliuzzi has been the division’s deputy assistant director since November 2010.
“Frank is a seasoned investigator and an experienced manager, and he knows the threats the FBI and our country face. He’s well-suited to lead our Counterintelligence Division and keep our nation safe from those individuals and groups that would do it harm,” said Director Mueller.
Mr. Figliuzzi was appointed an FBI special agent in August 1987 and assigned to the Atlanta Division, where he worked terrorism and foreign counterintelligence investigations. In 1992, he was promoted to the National Security Division at FBI Headquarters in Washington, D.C., with responsibility for oversight of economic espionage matters.
In 1995, Mr. Figliuzzi was named supervisory senior resident agent of the Palo Alto Resident Agency in the FBI’s San Francisco Division. His office, near Silicon Valley, led the FBI in investigations of foreign-sponsored thefts of trade secrets. In 1997, Mr. Figliuzzi was tasked to lead one of the FBI’s first squads exclusively devoted to crimes against children.
In 1998, Mr. Figliuzzi was promoted to unit chief in the Office of Professional Responsibility at FBI Headquarters. He adjudicated allegations of serious misconduct against FBI personnel. In 1999, Mr. Figliuzzi was appointed assistant special agent in charge of the FBI’s Miami Division, where he led the white-collar crime branch and its successful investigations of public corruption and corporate fraud. Following the September 11, 2001, attacks, Mr. Figliuzzi was selected to head FBI Miami’s new counterterrorism branch. He led the South Florida Joint Terrorism Task Force and was on-scene commander following the anthrax murder in Boca Raton, Florida.
In August 2004, Mr. Figliuzzi was promoted to inspector and led teams that assessed FBI operations around the world. In December 2005, Mr. Figliuzzi became the FBI’s chief inspector. He then served as the special agent in charge of the Cleveland Division from 2006 to 2010.
Mr. Figliuzzi has a Juris Doctor with honors from the University of Connecticut School of Law, and a Bachelor of Arts degree in English literature from Fairfield University. He is a graduate of the John F. Kennedy School of Government’s program for senior executives in national and international security at Harvard University.
Alumni Profile: Frank Figliuzzi '84
Headshot photo of Frank Figliuzzi '84
A Vocation in the FBI
Steeped in the ethics that govern the Bureau’s inner workings, Figliuzzi’s later assignments informed large sections of his new book, The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau’s Code of Excellence.
— Pull Section From Figliuzzi’s New Book
When Frank Figliuzzi ‘84 applied for a job with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, an FBI agent sat down to have a heart-to-heart...with his wife.
Figliuzzi and the former Coleen Button ’84 attended Fairfield together and had been married for years, but the Bureau needed to make sure she was prepared for what was to come.
“It’s not a job; it’s a vocation,” said Figliuzzi, who retired as an assistant director after 25 years with the agency in 2012. “It’s a calling.”
In fact, at age 11, Figliuzzi was spurred on by a spate of popular TV shows about law enforcement, and knew he wanted to bring bad guys to justice. From his home in New Fairfield, the pre-teen wrote to the FBI’s New Haven field office to ask how he could best prepare to become an agent.
“And I got a response!” he said, laughing. “They said, ‘Here’s what you’ve got to do...’”
At Fairfield, Figliuzzi explored the relationship between rules and community, snagging a job as a resident advisor and paying close attention in courses on politics and propaganda with veteran professors such as Carmen Donnarumma and Philip Eliasoph, PhD.
“The Fairfield education was astounding,” he said. “And the Jesuits were masters at it.” After earning his BA in English literature with minors in communication and sociology, he headed to the University of Connecticut for a law degree, completing an FBI honors summer internship and a plum assignment with the Federal organized crime strike force in New Haven. He had top- secret clearance and argued motions against mobsters in court.
“I just absolutely ate it all up,” said the father of two.
After training at the FBI Academy at Quantico, Virginia, Figliuzzi stood before his entire class in a time-honored ceremony – and opened the envelope that would reveal his first full-time assignment and determine the course of his career.
He was assigned to counterintelligence and counterterrorism in Atlanta, Georgia. And so, the little boy from Connecticut who had dreamed of catching bad guys began tailing spies and terrorists, from the 1988 Democratic National Convention to the Olympic Games in Albertville, France and Barcelona, Spain.
Figliuzzi went on to lead intricate double-agent operations that pitted him against the Russian Foreign Intelligence Agency (“the SVR”). He was hand-picked for the post-Cold War economic espionage unit headed by Robert Hanssen, who was later exposed for secretly working with the Soviet Union and its successors. Sentenced to life in prison without parole in 2001, Hanssen is considered the most damaging spy in FBI history.
Figliuzzi remembered hearing about the arrest of his unit chief while driving on the Florida Turnpike. Stunned by the betrayal, the veteran lawman had to pull his car over and collect himself. It was clear that Hanssen had exposed the double-agent case Figliuzzi had helped create.
“I was shocked,” he said. “He was directly responsible for the deaths of 10 Russian individuals who were working for the U.S.”
In the latter part of his 25-year FBI career, Figliuzzi worked in counterintelligence in Palo Alto, and led investigations from the San Francisco office into crimes against children. Called back to the nation’s capital, then-Director Robert Mueller appointed Figliuzzi chief inspector overseeing internal affairs. He eventually rose to assistant director in charge of the counterintelligence division.
Steeped in the ethics that govern the Bureau’s inner workings, Figliuzzi’s later assignments informed large sections of his new book, The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau’s Code of Excellence (Custom House, January 2021). His singular experience also led to a five-year post as assistant chief security officer for investigations and insider threat for General Electric’s 300,000 employees in 180 countries, and his ongoing stint as a national security contributor for NBC and MSNBC News.
Figliuzzi’s time in the agency prepared him well for the turmoil of the past few years — from foreign relations to domestic extremism. Whether tracking child pornographers or hunting down terrorist movements in south Florida after the 9-11 attacks, he learned to remain focused on and committed to the gatekeeping, the “code keeping” that is the cornerstone of the FBI.
“It’s the intersection of values and leadership,” he said. “It’s preserving what matters most.”
Frank Figliuzzi On The FBI Way And Cybersecurity
NBC News National Security Contributor shares his new book
– Amanda Glassner
Northport, N.Y. – Feb. 19, 2021
To its 35,000 employees, “FBI” stands for Federal Bureau of Investigation. For the rest of us it’s a “faraway business I don’t understand.”
Frank Figliuzzi is on a mission to change that.
Since retiring in 2012 from his role as the FBI’s assistant director for counterintelligence, Figliuzzi has taken on a new title: author. Despite swearing never to become the stereotypical former agent exposing the secrets of his career, he couldn’t resist the pull to defend the bureau’s credibility in light of nationwide political unrest.
“Here’s the bottom line,” he says in a video interview with Cybercrime Magazine. “When you flash those FBI credentials at the front door of somebody and ask for their cooperation on a case, if they pause for one minute because of some misperception about the trust they can have in the FBI, the success of the FBI can fail.”
Deciding it was time to refute the widespread distrust, Figliuzzi published “The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau’s Code of Excellence” in 2021.
By giving readers a look into the once-mysterious proceedings of FBI agents, the current NBC News national security analyst shuts down the public’s mistaken beliefs by holding up the bureau as a model of leadership and value preservation.
Though it sounds too good to be true, the field-tested playbook has potential to unlock individual and organizational excellence.
How can the author make such a promise? His resume speaks for itself.
Appointed the “Keeper of the Code” by former FBI Director Robert Mueller, Figliuzzi has aced every role with which he’s been tasked, including making many high-stakes calls on disciplinary actions taken against FBI agents facing internal misconduct allegations.
If you’re uninterested in the bureau’s secrets, don’t shun the book too fast. “The FBI Way” will still resonate with you.
Code. Conservancy. Clarity. Consequences. Compassion. Credibility. Consistency.
These are the 7 C’s: the core values behind the moving memoir, and you can employ them in your everyday life.
“You need to know that this institution is composed of extraordinary humans governed by an equally extraordinary structure designed to preserve the meaning behind the FBI’s motto of Fidelity, Bravery, and Integrity. That same internal structure — how it works and the stories of the human beings it impacts — holds important lessons for our own careers, companies, and country.”
For seasoned cybersecurity professionals, these may be lessons already learned. Often, though, individuals in this critically-important industry don’t know what they’re protecting.
“If you’re out there functioning without core values and a code that’s clearly communicated to your team, you’re likely to be spinning your wheels,” says Figliuzzi, acknowledging the companies that are succeeding via a loosely-held-together business model.
That’s putting it mildly. Once these tips are utilized, the possibilities become endless. Security practices will transform from a simple closed window to locked, bulletproof glass that even the most hardened criminal can’t break.
The recent cyberattack on SolarWinds, dubbed the “most sophisticated attack ever,” by Microsoft president Brad Smith, is the perfect example of a defense failure.
“When the top ten telecommunications companies have been impacted, when SolarWinds has become a single point of failure, exploited by the Russian Intelligence Service, impacting 300-thousand clients around the world, we should all be deeply concerned,” Figliuzzi cautions.
One solution being debated by industry experts is to elect a chief security officer for the nation. Bringing this already-proven successful role to a federal government level could generate outcomes once thought to be impossible.
When asked if he would consider taking on the title, Figliuzzi laughs, but he doesn’t turn it down. In the meantime, though, he is happy to spearhead the crucial national discussion on security.
“The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau’s Code of Excellence” is available for purchase through Amazon and HarperCollins Publishers. To hear more of his insider stories, view his interview here.
– Amanda Glassner is a staff writer and reporter at Cybercrime Magazine.
Frank Figliuzzi is an MSNBC columnist and a national security contributor for NBC News and MSNBC. He was the assistant director for counterintelligence at the FBI, where he served 25 years as a special agent and directed all espionage investigations across the government. He is the author of "The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau's Code of Excellence."
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TUESDAY
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JANUARY 2021
1
COMMENTS
Frank Figliuzzi Interview: FBI Veteran Defends Bureau's Integrity in the Aftermath of Trump
Written by Marc Parker and Melissa Benefield Parker, Posted in Interviews Authors
Image attributed to Steven Meckler
Frank Figliuzzi
Frank Figliuzzi joined the Federal Bureau of Investigation as a special agent in 1987 ad has worked for the FBI in the Atlanta, Washington, D.C. headquarters, San Francisco, Miami and Cleveland offices. In 2011, then director Robert Mueller appointed him assistant director of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Division. Following his FBI service, he joined General Electric and served for five years as assistant chief security officer for investigations, insider threat, workplace violence prevention and special event security for GE's 300,000 employees in 180 countries.
Figliuzzi is currently a national security contributor for NBC and MSNBC News. His book, The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau’s Code of Excellence, is released January 12, 2021. In The FBI Way, the 25-year FBI veteran reveals the Bureau’s field-tested playbook for unlocking individual and organizational excellence through dramatic stories from his own storied career.
"I swore I’d never write a book about my FBI career or the inside workings of the Bureau, but I was prompted to do it after four years of hearing the institution I love bashed, the institution I dedicated 25 years to maligned on a daily basis. And I think, even more importantly, the men and women of the FBI being harangued by the highest levels of our government."
Smashing Interviews Magazine: Frank, how are you and your family doing during the pandemic?
Frank Figliuzzi: Thank you for asking. We’re taking it very safely. Everybody’s fine. So far, so good. How about your family?
Smashing Interviews Magazine: We’re good so far also and staying in as much as possible. The FBI Way is very well-written and informative.
Frank Figliuzzi: Thank you. That’s kind of you.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: Why did you feel the need to write the book?
Frank Figliuzzi: Well, I’ve done something, Melissa, that I thought I’d never do. I swore I’d never write a book about my FBI career or the inside workings of the Bureau, but I was prompted to do it after four years of hearing the institution I love bashed, the institution I dedicated 25 years to maligned on a daily basis. And I think, even more importantly, the men and women of the FBI being harangued by the highest levels of our government.
I had enough of that, and I needed to kind of preserve the public perception or attempt to set the record straight about the FBI because the bottom line is the FBI can’t succeed without the trust of the American people. When FBI agents present themselves with their credentials at someone’s door and ask for help on a case or particularly when they need somebody to cooperate with them even as sources of information, they can’t do that if the public questions, even for a moment, the credibility of the FBI. So I think the institution’s been damaged, and I thought it was time for me to set the record straight and to share my thoughts on what I believe it’s really about, which is the intersection of leadership and values.
I felt over the last four years that leadership and values were sorely lacking in our country, and I think we need them more than ever. So my kind of retort to the perceptions of the Bureau coming from some people is, “You know what? Not only is what you’re hearing not entirely true but the FBI could be held up as a model of preserving what matters most to your life, your business, your company, your community and your country.” So never before has the internal affairs of the FBI been written about, what goes on internally in investigations inside the FBI, which I played a role in throughout my career.
The concept of applying how the FBI protects what matters most to your life, your business and your part in our society is something I’ve distilled down to what I call the “Seven C’s.” If you read through the Seven C’s, you’ll see not only how the FBI does it as a national defense mechanism but how the FBI does it inside the institution, and then hopefully, you can take those lessons and apply them to your life.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: By saying that you were prompted to write the book after the last four years, you are referring to how the FBI was treated by President Donald Trump? I recall one instance in 2017, where Trump stated the FBI was “tainted,” it’s reputation was in “tatters,” “the worst in history.”
Frank Figliuzzi: I am, and I want to be very clear about something, Melissa. This is not a book that claims that the FBI is perfect because when you say, “Hey, what prompted you to write a book?” or something like, “Is this all about Trump bashing the Bureau?” That’s in large part where the damage has come from, but I will readily admit, as I do in the book, that there are certain FBI senior leaders who didn’t help matters. In fact, they handed President Trump and his allies reasons to bash the Bureau.
Jim Comey, a man of very high integrity, and he operates with good intentions and good faith, made some errors in judgment that helped contribute to what I call the politicization of the FBI, and the last thing that the FBI needs is to be perceived as political. That is just something that will last for a long time if the FBI is perceived as political. It’s why the FBI director has a 10-year term. He or she needs to cross over presidential administrations to remain above politics. So between Trump and some of the errors in judgment at the top of the FBI, we got into an unacceptable situation where the Bureau is being perceived as political, it’s being perceived as part of a deep state, and my book is here to tell you, here’s how I see it. Here is my experience of 25 years, good, bad and ugly.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: James Comey was the director of the FBI when he held the press conference on July 5, 2016, and announced he wasn’t recommending charges be brought by the Department of Justice against Hillary Clinton for her mishandling of classified data. Are you saying he shouldn’t have announced this publicly?
Frank Figliuzzi: The short answer, Melissa, is yes, he should not have. I can’t emphasize enough that Jim Comey is a man of the highest integrity. I believe he was operating in absolute good faith. He’s the kind of guy you’d want living next door to you, watching the house while you’re gone, to leave watching the kids while you were running an errand. That’s not the issue here.
The issue here is that he took a highly charged issue, the issue of whether Hillary Clinton could or would be charged criminally for her handling of emails while being Secretary of State and turned it into a decision that the FBI isn’t supposed to make. The FBI investigates. They don’t make prosecuting decisions. So when he called that infamous press conference where the American flag was draped behind him, and he announced to great fanfare that “no reasonable prosecutor” would bring charges against Hillary, what he did was he forgot his position. He forgot that he was accountable to the Department of Justice and the Attorney General and that right across the street from headquarters is a building full of attorneys who make those decisions. So he should have announced that we’re done with our investigation, that we conducted all of our evidence gathering and interviews, and we’re now turning over our investigation to the DOJ for a decision.
I know why Jim Comey did that. He wanted to take that burden away from the DOJ, and he wanted to act with integrity. He had some trust issues with the current Attorney General at the time, and he thought he’d take the hit and be all things to all people. But he forgot who he was accountable to, and he did not totally factor in the longer term damage to the FBI by making that decision himself.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: Former FBI agent and Chief of the Counterintelligence Section Peter Strzok led the FBI probe into alleged collusion between the Trump campaign and Russia until it was found that he had sent anti-Trump texts to Lisa Page. Did his actions damage the integrity of the FBI?
Frank Figliuzzi: Melissa, I would assert that Peter Strzok did more damage to the FBI than Jim Comey did. I’m a national security contributor with MSNBC, and I was on television saying early on that Peter Strzok is going to get fired, that he needs to be fired, and that’s exactly what happened. But his firing helped get on the restoration path for the FBI because, as I say in my book, I refer to the Seven C’s. Let’s talk about two of those C’s. One is consequences, and the other is credibility. We all need to understand the consequences of our actions, and we all need to act with credibility. Credibility doesn’t mean being perfect. Again, the FBI’s not a perfect organization. It’s a human organization, but credibility means transparency and jumping on the consequences of what needs to happen and being honest and open about it.
Peter Strzok was essentially a senior leader of that initial Russian investigation, but that turned into the Special Counsel investigation when he made the decision as a senior executive to engage in highly partisan discussions with Lisa Page, who we think he was having an extramarital affair, using FBI devices to have those partisan discussions. He erred in judgment as a senior executive, and the damage he did to the FBI was such that he had to be fired. I hope people understand. That’s part of the process of having values and preserving them. You’re dealing with people that undermine your values, and that’s what happened there.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: The Mueller Report refrained from recommending prosecution, saying there were “difficult legal issues that would need to be resolved,” in order to reach a conclusion that the crime of obstruction of justice was committed by Trump. Were you surprised by that?
Frank Figliuzzi: Yes, I was, and I continued to be disappointed and flummoxed by the perimeters that Mueller felt constrained to stay within, but I am equally upset, more upset, with Attorney General Barr for how he mischaracterized the Special Counsel Report on that four-page written summary and in his press conference prior to its release where he again misled the American people. I understand people aren’t going to read a 400-page report. I had to read it on the air on national television and quickly figure out what it said. I’ll never forget that day. As I’m on TV, I’m going through it page by page and raising my hand to the producer in New York saying, “I found something in a footnote,” and I’m on with Nicolle Wallace and Brian Williams all day.
Here’s the deal. The report found in Volume I that there was absolutely collaboration between the Trump campaign and Russia. Now what people just do not understand, in part because they’ve been misled by Barr, is that Mueller was looking for criminal conduct only. So what he was searching for was something called “criminal conspiracy.” So when Barr said, “There was zero collaboration with Russia,” he’s lying. What he really should be saying is, “There was nothing chargeable from a criminal conspiracy standpoint with regards to collaborating with Russia.” But it’s clear in Volume I of the report that that happened and also clear is the incredible expense in which the Russian government went to in order to mess with our election.
Don’t forget that Mueller identified 12 Russian intelligence officers who hacked into the Democratic National Committee and who propagated social media disinformation. He then indicted them, which leads to Volume II of the report which addressed the issue of obstruction of justice, and again, we have Barr misleading the public, and Trump is just jumping on that train saying, “No obstruction! No obstruction!” Au contraire, the second volume of the report, if people would simply read it, gives us at least ten examples of chargeable obstruction of justice by the president of the United States, but Mueller felt constrained by that memo at the Department of Justice that says that you really shouldn’t charge a sitting president.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: In your opinion as a national security expert, how much different would the coronavirus pandemic have been now if Donald Trump had acted on the intelligence information when he received it back in January of 2020?
Frank Figliuzzi: As an intelligence professional, I look with great concern at not even the reports you are referring to but the far more recent reports in the last few weeks where we’re learning of internal discussions at the White House about herd immunity, meaning that they wanted millions of people to catch Covid and even had discussions to the affect of, “Hey, we don’t even like that colleges are closing down because we want healthy college kids to get sick as part of a herd immunity plan.”
I find that extremely disgraceful because of the deaths that inevitably flow when millions of people get Covid, but here’s my national security spin on this. Number one, these last four years have been a period of public consumption of intelligence information and learning about threat and the role of the intelligence community. If somebody had told me 10 years ago that I would be on national television regularly talking about very sensitive intelligence matters, I would’ve thought they were crazy, and I would’ve asked what in heaven’s name has happened that requires the public to see behind the scenes like this.
But I can tell you that in my career in the FBI, the annual intelligence reports to the Congress and the White House that come out of the DNI (Director of National Intelligence) for example, the concern about a global pandemic has been in that report for as long as I can remember. Exercises and drills on such topics often had a scenario where that virus came out of China. I know for this president and this administration to say, “Hey, we were blindsided. This should’ve never happened. We had no resources or plan,” that’s nonsense. Nonsense.
My sources tell me that very, very early in the Covid-19 scenarios, the intelligence community was recording that there’s something very ugly happening in China, and this could be very bad. So, look, the president has engaged in a kind of disinformation that I worked against. When foreign adversaries were doing it, I put it in that category. So we’re bombarded with disinformation and propaganda from countries like Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, and it saddens me to say that in particular to this deadly virus, we’ve been bombarded with disinformation and propaganda from our own country.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: What or who is the biggest threat to the United States today, and has there been an increase in white supremacist terrorist groups during Donald Trump’s presidency?
Frank Figliuzzi: Let me address this on kind of a macro level and then on a more precise micro level. So on an almost ideological, philosophical concerned level, let me say this about the threats facing the country. Number one, even FBI Director Chris Wray in public testimony has referred to this concern. Number one, our own threat could be ourselves. By that I mean a couple of things. First, we have learned some things about ourselves. I think we’ve learned, sadly, that with our inability to unite against a common enemy and to come together even to battle a deadly virus, we’ve managed to become so political and polarized that we can’t even get it right to wear a mask or socially distance, that somehow we think that is a political decision.
I keep going back in history to a time during WW II. We sent our men and women off to war. We sent wives and sisters to factories to help build armaments. People grew victory gardens. People rationed food, and people lost their loved ones in the battle against a common enemy. I fear that the resilience, fight and united effort escapes us right now. I worry about that in terms of the future and the threat we pose to ourselves and the vulnerability that that reflects to our foreign adversaries.
Let me get more specific about specific threats. Internally in the United States, it’s the president and the approach he’s taken to the office. I won’t get into various theories that he is or isn’t compromised by a foreign power. I’m just going to talk about the approach he’s taken to the office which has made us more vulnerable. The intelligence community has told us, both the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security have both said to us, “Domestic terrorism, white supremacy is becoming equal to or greater than the threat posed by international terrorism.” So we’ve got to access where we are as a country and where we’re going based on our own internal vulnerabilities and threats that we pose.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: Along those same lines, let’s discuss the violent insurrection that was carried out by armed Trump insurgents at the Capitol on January 6. Were intelligence agencies aware that this was going to happen?
Frank Figliuzzi: Yeah. This was not an intelligence failure. This was a security failure. I say that because it was a failure to act upon the available intelligence. So all of the dots were there. Many of the dots were connected. Those dots were shared, and connections were shared with the appropriate law enforcement agencies. In fact, I think those who are on television saying this is some kind of FBI failure are going to look very foolish when they learn that this could’ve been a whole lot worse but for certain FBI measures that took place prior to the event.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: Did the Trump administration receive this same intelligence information?
Frank Figliuzzi: The police departments responsible for securing the Capitol received the intelligence information. I cannot speak from any position of knowledge as to whether or not the Trump administration had all of the intelligence. But we know that we have a president who does not take briefings from the FBI nor does he read his presidential daily brief nor is there any reason to believe that since his loss, he has taken any intelligence briefing. We simply don’t know.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: If the Capitol Police had this information, then is there a probability this was an inside job, that the mob was aided by certain police officers and staffers in the building?
Frank Figliuzzi: We’re going to see hearings and inquiries. We’ve already seen Washington Post reporting that numerous police departments in the country have opened inquiries internally to determine whether or not their officers participated in traveling to Washington and perhaps being a part of this. So we need answers. The answers will come.
But right now, there are clear indicators that number one, insufficient resources were applied to secure the Capitol. Number two, even when faced with a clear imminent threat, the actions of those Capitol police officers indicated a lack of motivation to propel the protestors. So at best, we have a complete breakdown in security. At worst, we have some kind of deliberate mindset that facilitated this insurrection.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: This type of breach also makes America look weak to our adversaries, and that’s frightening.
Frank Figliuzzi: Our adversaries right now are deciding whether this is the window of opportunity to move on us. That can be anything from a debilitating cyberattack to an encroachment or an incursion into territories that they’ve had their eyes on for a long time. So China or Russia might decide this is the moment to annex a territory or to test our resolve to repel them from taking some actions against allied or United States’ interests. If we’re wondering who’s in charge, you can bet our adversaries are wondering the same thing.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: Do you think there were any foreign agents among the group of insurrectionists at the Capitol?
Frank Figliuzzi: There’s no way to tell. But I have to tell you, there are enough foreign intelligence officers on any given day inside the District of Columbia through the official diplomatic establishments of all nations, and they are not covert operatives from foreign adversaries that function inside the Beltway. So I think the damage assessment on the intelligence side of this needs to include the probability that some foreign adversaries infiltrated this group. I’m not saying they led it. I’m not saying they’re a part of organizing it. But I am saying it’s a safe assumption that anyone in any foreign intelligence service watching this play out on television could likely have sent some operatives to join the crowd.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: Is it a strong probability that more violent acts will take place before or even during Joe Biden’s inauguration?
Frank Figliuzzi: The indicators on social media are equal to or greater than the kinds of rhetoric we saw before the insurrection at the Capitol. So indeed. Known players, known leaders in extremist violent groups are speaking of some kind of action in the District of Columbia leading up to the inauguration or during the inauguration.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: Will the FBI eventually charge all of the perpetrators of the insurrection that can be identified?
Frank Figliuzzi: Yeah. Every single one of the identifiable rioters (and rioters is the kindest word I can use, I think they’re domestic terrorists) will be charged and will be charged with the highest charge, the most significant charge and consequences that they can come up with. There is a dramatic dynamic going on that involves a race against the clock. By that I mean, the FBI is very good at methodically developing the strongest case possible against people in gathering every bit of evidence and even convening a grand jury so they can make an arrest on indictment which is a much stronger case. However, that dynamic against that relates to the inauguration and to ensure that the baddest of the bad are racked up and taken down so they cannot continue to plan and aid and abet something even up to the inauguration.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: Will it be difficult to charge Donald Trump and others with inciting violence?
Frank Figliuzzi: There are two questions in your question, which is the president himself and those enabling him and facilitating him. I think we’ve already heard the answer with regards to charging a sitting president, but I think a new administration, a new Attorney General will look anew at that infamous DOJ memo that says you shouldn’t charge a sitting president. I think once Trump gets out of office, you’ll see various US attorneys begin to charge him. Then with those around him including Rudy Giuliani, who on that awful day, said publicly from a stage, “We need trial by combat,” saying we failed in the courts, and now we need combat, I think he’s facing possible criminal exposure as well.
So this will all get looked at, and don’t forget that various state authorities are looking at things. For example, the State of Georgia is looking at Trump and that phone call he made to the Secretary of State down there. The US Attorney in the District of Columbia has said he is opening an inquiry into the president in terms of inciting a riot. So stay tuned on that.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: Will these organized right-wing supremacists or self-styled anti-government militia groups continue wreaking havoc even after Donald Trump leaves office?
Frank Figliuzzi: I say it with a high degree of confidence that we are developing a kind of home-grown permanent insurgency in the United States, and when this president leaves, that threat doesn’t go away. In fact, you could argue that as Trump moves to his plan to launch a digital media platform perhaps now that he’s been taken down from Twitter and Facebook, we essentially are cordoning off a frenetic, violent extremist group that he will leave unchecked without any guardrails about them.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: Now that Donald Trump will be leaving office, will the perception of the FBI and other intelligence agencies begin to improve?
Frank Figliuzzi: I think the road to recovery is going to be long, but I think we’ll see resilience within institutions. I think we’ll see morale pick up. One of the concerns I’ve had over the past four years is that information on the hard stuff, particularly the unpleasant news involving Russia, was not getting briefed on whether that’s because it’s not being allowed, it’s being cut off before it gets to the House or Senate Intelligence Committees and/or it won’t get to the president simply because he doesn’t want to hear bad news or it’s contrary to his own narrative.
I think things will will start rolling again, and that’s really encouraging. That’s going to happen. But rest assured that Biden and Harris are going to have some serious threats to deal with. The globe is still reeling from a massive cyberattack from Russia that’s been occurring over the past few months. Biden is probably going to face Vladimir Putin throwing down what I call a cyber gauntlet as soon as he takes office. But, yeah, the short answer is that things can improve, and I believe that they will.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: On a much lighter note, Frank, do you watch television crime dramas such as FBI and Criminal Minds and sort of critique them?
Frank Figliuzzi: There’s a thing going on in my household which is that my wife tends to watch those shows, and she likes them. I can’t bring myself to watch them because what happens inevitably, Melissa, is my blood pressure goes up if they get it wrong. I don’t like suspending reality very much. If things are repeatedly wrong and requires a suspension of reality on an FBI show, I can’t sit there and enjoy it because they either haven’t gone to the trouble of researching it for accuracy or they’re doing things for dramatic effect, which I understand.
But I can tell you what. When the rare instance comes up where there’s a show that gets it right, I applaud it, and I do watch it. There’s a series that I highly recommend called Mindhunter. It’s the story of the very, very early days and the inception of the Behavioral Science program in the FBI and profiling. I found it to be extremely accurate. But it’s no surprise that it’s accurate because it’s been produced by John Douglas who is probably the most famous FBI profiler in history.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: I love that show also. It’s interesting that you had a connection with attorneys and MSNBC contributors Joyce Vance and Barbara McQuade before you became an MSNBC contributor.
Frank Figliuzzi: Yeah. I don’t want to give it all away because I want those who are fans, as I am, of Joyce Vance and Barbara McQuade, to know that the book reveals how we knew each other before MSNBC. They can read it and find out. But indeed, Joyce and I were on set in New York at 30 Rockefeller Center on TV one day. Those were the pre-Covid days when we actually got to fly in occasionally to New York and be in the studio, and the light bulb went on over my head that, “Wait a minute. She’s the United States Attorney in Birmingham, and her last name is Vance.” We had a brief discussion, and we figured out that we had something very much in common.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: Any final words about The FBI Way?
Frank Figliuzzi: This book is going to be many things to many people. If you want some war stories from an FBI career, you can get that. If you’re looking for a leadership book on how to preserve what matters most in a process known as values-based leadership, you’re going to get that leadership book. If you want to understand the inner workings and read never before told stories of inside the FBI (that had to be cleared for this book), you’re going to get that. I encourage people to pick it up.
I would especially be excited if the book is gifted to young people who might be interested in a public service career. I hope this book encourages and inspires young people to consider a career in public service. So I’m excited about it.
Smashing Interviews Magazine: Is another book in the works? I’m thinking possibly a true story of the intriguing life and career of an FBI agent turned writer and respected National Security Analyst.
Frank Figliuzzi: Since I’ve operated in clandestine mode for most of my career, I’m going to keep under wraps my plans for perhaps another book (laughs). But I like what you’re thinking. I like it a lot.
Figliuzzi, Frank THE FBI WAY Custom House/Morrow (NonFiction None) $27.99 1, 5 ISBN: 978-0-06-299705-0
A leadership book from the FBI’s former head of counterintelligence.
Figliuzzi rightly notes that an exceptional organization maintains high ethical standards, but the way the author communicates his concepts is not as potent as some would expect from a former special agent. The book mixes ideas that will be familiar to readers of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations and Sun Tzu’s Art of War except instead of deception, integrity is the recipe for success. Though Figliuzzi offers explanations of the principles that guide the FBI, the text is largely a series of anecdotes. Many organizations could stand to implement the FBI’s purported moral uprightness, but the book is not a how-to manual. The author hints at many of the disturbing crimes he no doubt witnessed during his years of service, and his accounts of consoling surviving family members of deceased agents are touching. One particularly thrilling story involves the high-speed chase of a suspected terrorist across half of the country. “FBI surveillance units in state after state had been handing off Zazi like a toxic baton in a deadly relay race,” writes Figliuzzi. Most of the other stories are only mildly interesting, but they all do illustrate the value of the FBI. The author wrote this book when it was “time to defend and extol the work of the FBI,” and he does just that; he certainly goes against the grain of current criticism of law enforcement. Late in the book, we learn that Figliuzzi held the position “referred to as the nation’s top spy catcher,” but there is little spy-catching to be found. The author relates events through James Comey’s departure and the early pandemic. Perhaps the clandestine nature of the FBI prevents Figliuzzi from telling us what we really want to hear, or maybe it’s just too soon.
A surprisingly middle-of-the-road book.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Figliuzzi, Frank: THE FBI WAY." Kirkus Reviews, 15 Oct. 2020. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A638165961/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=0c58b5af. Accessed 24 May 2024.
The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau's Code of Excellence. By Frank Figliuzzi. Jan. 2021.272p. Morrow/Custom, $27.99 (9780062997050); e-book, $14.99 (9780062997067). 363.25.
Figliuzzi served the Federal Bureau of Investigation in various positions for nearly three decades, from special agent to assistant director. His tenure led to him working on cases from kidnapping to counterterrorism. As Figliuzzi posits, the FBI's integrity and staying power owes itself to the seven C's: Code, Conservancy, Clarity, Consequences, Compassion, Credibility, and Consistency. The FBI distinguishes itself by its rigorous training program, where the best of applicants are tested physically and mentally to determine their fitness to be an FBI agent. The code of conduct is aptly described in the bureau's motto, "Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity." Figliuzzi describes how the lack of code can unravel a career. The case studies he provides exemplify how the FBI is a model of the aforementioned seven C's, whether it be how a case of misconduct was handled internally or how agents responded to well-known threats like the 2001 Anthrax attacks. Though the FBI has taken hits recently, which the author addresses, his book shines as a positive view of the storied agency--Philip Zozzaro
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2020 American Library Association
http://www.ala.org/aboutala/offices/publishing/booklist/
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Zozzaro, Philip. "The FBI Way: Inside the Bureau's Code of Excellence." Booklist, vol. 117, no. 5-6, 1 Nov. 2020, p. 4. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A643988946/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=7d0a14f9. Accessed 24 May 2024.
Book Review: The FBI WAY: Inside the Bureau's Code of Excellence by Frank Figliuzzi
High standards, high values, high morals, and excellence are all words that come to mind when I think of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Frank Figliuzzi served as a Special Agent for 25 years with many achievements including becoming the assistant director and leading the Counterintelligence Division and brings insight to readers regarding the standards the FBI adheres to.
In his book, The FBI Way, Figliuzzi covers the seven "Cs" which FBI agents rely on in their daily operations. The "C"s are: Code, Conservancy, Clarity, Consequences, Compassion, Credibility, and Consistency. Each "C" is discussed in each chapter and each chapter is written in a strategic form and order. Figliuzzi said when cops understand and enforce core values it speaks positively to them as an individual and to their department.
The principles in the book are not only for those in law enforcement as they may be applied to any one of any career path. However, in regard to law enforcement the seven "Cs" should be taught and followed in every agency.
Figliuzzi encourages law enforcement officers to adhere to a higher code that is bigger than themselves so that they may bring their best foot forward to their agency. "The public is counting on law enforcement more now to enforce core values and stand for what is right," said Figliuzzi. He stated that officers represent our freedoms and need to be accountable and mirror those values. "Officer are stewards of their departments and have an obligation to do the right thing." His book, The FBI Way goes into a variety of examples of each "C" with engaging stories of Figliuzzi's career experiences.
A The FBI Way is an excellent resource for all who would like to strive towards a higher standard; especially those in law enforcement.
© Copyright 2021 Cygnus Business Media
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2021 All Rights Reserved.
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"Book Review: The FBI WAY: Inside the Bureau's Code of Excellence by Frank Figliuzzi." Officer.com, Mar. 2021, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A654517508/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=b7ac568d. Accessed 24 May 2024.
Figliuzzi, Frank LONG HAUL Mariner Books (NonFiction None) $25.99 5, 28 ISBN: 9780063265158
A former assistant director of counterintelligence for the FBI delves into the work of a special unit that examines the link between truckers and highway serial killings.
Figliuzzi, author of The FBI Way, first learned about the agency's Highway Serial Killings Initiative in 2021. The criminal analyst who told him about HSK revealed that agents had gathered enough evidence to link long-haul truckers to a shocking 850 murders, many of them unsolved. To better grasp the group's mission, the author ventured back into the field to study not only trucker subculture, but also the women mostly likely to fall victim to trucker serial killers. For one week, he rode the highways with Mike, a young man early into his trucking career, to get a sense of the everyday challenges and hardships truckers faced and the personality types that would be attracted to the lifestyle. Figliuzzi also interviewed a retired trucker named Dale: An alcoholic loner and gun-owner, Dale ticked "boxes on a crime analyst's HSK checklist" that the more sociable Mike did not. From the leading academic researchers, the author gained insight into the ways prostitution and human trafficking intersected with truck stop culture to create conditions that predators could exploit to their advantage. But it was the female survivors of trucker abuse that gave Figliuzzi the most harrowing glimpses into the depths of this disturbing branch of trucker subculture. Wounded by early trauma, these women became targets of unscrupulous individuals who used drugs to lure them into situations of involuntary servitude that included prostituting themselves to truckers. As the author brings to light the important work of a little-known FBI investigative unit, he illuminates the dark underside of an industry that, while essential, is also brutal and unforgiving.
Compelling reading for true-crime enthusiasts, especially those intrigued by the psychology of serial killers.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 Kirkus Media LLC
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"Figliuzzi, Frank: LONG HAUL." Kirkus Reviews, 15 May 2024, p. NA. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A793537066/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=92400e2f. Accessed 24 May 2024.
Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers
Frank Figliuzzi. Mariner, $25.99 (272p) ISBN 978-0-06-326515-8
FBI veteran Figliuzzi (The FBI Way) examines in this rattling work of true crime the serial murderers crisscrossing America behind the wheels of big rig trucks. Of the million registered semi truck drivers in the United States, the vast majority are just men doing their jobs, Figliuzzi notes. However, the FBI's Highway Serial Killer Initiative is actively hunting 450 possible suspects involved in some 850 homicides, mostly of women whose bodies were dumped along major roadsides. Figliuzzi takes readers inside some of the most notorious cases--including that of the "Big Rig Killer," who tortured more than 50 women during the 1970s and '80s--and paints a hard-edged portrait of life on the road, replete with drug use, crushing isolation, and a thriving truck-stop sex trade. In a particularly memorable section, he rides for thousands of miles alongside a trucker who's been on the job for 4() years and is struggling with the industry's increasing tilt toward automation. Along the way, Figliuzzi circles a single, blaring question: Does the long-haul life create, or just draw, violent criminals? While he doesn't arrive at a definitive answer, his blend of thorough research and immersive storytelling takes readers deep inside the conundrum. It's fascinating stuff. Agent: Peter McGuigan, Ultra Literary. (May)
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2024 PWxyz, LLC
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"Long Haul: Hunting the Highway Serial Killers." Publishers Weekly, vol. 271, no. 9, 4 Mar. 2024, pp. 37+. Gale General OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A786742131/ITOF?u=schlager&sid=bookmark-ITOF&xid=824dbcfa. Accessed 24 May 2024.
Review: Frank Figliuzzi – The FBI Way (S)
Posted on April 14, 2024 by Rose Herbert
The FBI Way
Inside the Bureau’s Code of Excellence
Frank Figliuzzi
“The FBI’s former head of counterintelligence reveals the Bureau’s field-tested playbook for unlocking individual and organizational excellence, illustrated through dramatic stories from his own storied career. Frank Figliuzzi was the “Keeper of the Code,” appointed the FBI’s Chief Inspector by then-Director Robert Mueller. Charged with overseeing sensitive internal inquiries, shooting reviews, and performance audits, he ensured each employee met the Bureau’s exacting standards of performance, integrity, and conduct. Now, drawing on his distinguished career, Figliuzzi reveals how the Bureau achieves its extraordinary standard of excellence—from the training of new recruits in “The FBI Way” to the Bureau’s rigorous maintenance of its standards up and down the organization. Unafraid to identify FBI execs who erred, he cites them as the exceptions that prove the rule.”
This book offers an insightful look into the inner workings of the FBI, narrated through the lens of an experienced agent. It demonstrates how the following principles are fundamental not only to FBI operations but also to broader applications in business and personal life. The author delves into the Bureau’s adherence to the seven C’s:
Code
Conservancy
Clarity
Consequences
Compassion
Credibility
Consistency
Despite initially questioning its relevance to my interests, I found the book to be a compelling exploration of leadership and ethical conduct within a high-stakes environment. Through storytelling and practical examples the author provides readers with a deeper understanding of the FBI’s culture of excellence.
The book prompts reflection on individual and organizational ethics, making it a valuable resource for anyone seeking to enhance their moral compass or improve their company’s framework.
In a world where integrity is paramount, the author’s work serves as a beacon of inspiration, offering practical insights for navigating complex ethical dilemmas. I wholeheartedly recommend “The FBI Way” to professionals eager to cultivate a culture of integrity and excellence within their organizations. 3.5 stars.