FBI Investigation Defense Attorney

An FBI visit rarely announces its subject. Agents ask general questions, take notes, and leave. Weeks later the person realises they were the target.

The FD-302 is the reason to say nothing. If there is a dispute about your exact words, the record is a document written afterwards by the person investigating you.

What the FBI investigates

The FBI has the broadest criminal jurisdiction of any federal agency. In Texas practice the recurring categories are white collar fraud, healthcare fraud, public corruption, cyber intrusion and ransomware, bank and commercial robbery, organised crime and RICO, civil rights offenses, crimes against children, and counterterrorism.

Field offices covering Texas sit in Dallas, Houston, San Antonio, and El Paso, with resident agencies in smaller cities.

How the FBI builds a case

FBI investigations are typically long, documentary, and witness-driven. The pattern is interviews of people around the target first, grand jury subpoenas to banks and employers, financial analysis, and — where available — a cooperating insider. Consensual recordings are common in corruption and fraud cases.

By the time agents approach the target, they generally know the answers to most of what they ask. The interview is not information-gathering so much as a test.

The FD-302, and why it matters

An FBI interview is documented in a report called an FD-302, written up after the fact from the interviewing agents' notes. Historically the Bureau did not record interviews, and while Justice Department policy now favours recording custodial interviews in some settings, a great many consensual field interviews are still not recorded.

The practical consequence is serious. If you say something ambiguous, or the agent misunderstands you, or your recollection differs from the note, the 302 is the government's evidence of what you said — and you have no recording to contradict it. Two agents typically attend so that one can testify to what the other wrote.

The § 1001 trap

The most common way an FBI interview harms someone is not a confession. It is a false statement. Under 18 U.S.C. § 1001, knowingly making a materially false statement to a federal agent is a felony carrying up to five years — no oath, no warning, and no exception for simply denying wrongdoing.

People shade answers to avoid embarrassment, misremember dates, or guess rather than admit uncertainty. Any of those can become the charge, and prosecutors do charge the interview when the underlying case is weak.

If the FBI executes a search warrant

Ask for a copy of the warrant and read what it authorises — the places to be searched and the items to be seized. Do not interfere, and do not answer questions during the search; agents frequently interview occupants while the search proceeds, and those statements are often the most damaging thing produced by the whole exercise.

Note what is taken and photograph what you can. The scope of the warrant and whether the search stayed inside it is a real suppression issue, particularly for phones and computers, where a warrant authorising seizure of "all electronic devices" invites a general search.

What to do if agents contact you

Do not answer questions. Say that you want to speak with a lawyer, and say nothing else. That is lawful, it cannot be used as evidence of guilt, and it is the single most effective thing you can do. Lying to a federal agent is a separate felony under 18 U.S.C. § 1001 — no oath required.

Do not consent to a search. If agents have a warrant they do not need permission. If they are asking, they may not have one.

Do not destroy anything. A preservation duty attaches the moment you know of the investigation, and destroying records is its own felony.

Write down what happened. Names, badge numbers, agency, time, what was asked, what was taken. Do it the same day.

Then call (214) 225-7117. If an agency is already at your door, the investigation is well advanced — and the pre-indictment window is the most valuable period you have.