Confidential Informant Management Flashcards

A handler learns through a third party that their CS has been sharing details of DEA operations with a family member who has ties to a drug trafficking organization. This situation is BEST described as:

Answer: A potential security breach requiring immediate deactivation and counterintelligence review

Unauthorized disclosure of operational details to persons connected to criminal organizations constitutes a serious security breach requiring immediate deactivation and a counterintelligence assessment of damage to ongoing operations.

Under DEA guidelines, when a CS is used in a controlled delivery operation, who bears primary responsibility for ensuring the controlled substance does not leave DEA custody at any point?

Answer: The handling agent, who retains supervisory control throughout the operation

The handling agent bears primary responsibility for maintaining supervisory control over all controlled substances during CS-directed operations, regardless of who physically holds the evidence.

A CS approaches a handler with information about a plot to assassinate a federal judge. The handler's FIRST action should be to:

Answer: Immediately notify the FBI and US Marshals Service in addition to DEA supervisors

Threats against federal judges trigger mandatory immediate notification to the FBI (which has jurisdiction over threats to federal officials) and the US Marshals Service (which provides judicial security), alongside DEA internal reporting.

The DEA's 'need to know' principle as applied to CS identities means that within a DEA field division, the CS's true identity should be:

Answer: Restricted to the handler, co-handler, and supervisory chain on a documented basis

CS identity information is strictly compartmented on a need-to-know basis, limited to the handler, co-handler, and the documented supervisory chain — wider dissemination requires specific justification.

A CS working a long-term infiltration assignment begins showing signs of psychological stress and begins identifying emotionally with the criminal organization. This phenomenon is known as:

Answer: Asset Capture

Asset Capture occurs when an informant becomes psychologically or emotionally captured by the target group, compromising their reliability and potentially turning them into an unwitting or witting double agent.

Which DEA requirement ensures that all promises made to a CS — including immunity, leniency recommendations, or financial compensation — are documented before the CS undertakes any operational activity?

Answer: Source Establishment Agreement (SEA)

The Source Establishment Agreement documents all promises, obligations, and terms of the CS relationship before any operational use, creating a legally defensible record and satisfying Giglio disclosure obligations.

When a DEA CS testifies at trial, opposing counsel attempts to introduce the CS's entire payment history to impeach credibility. The AUSA's strongest defense is that the payments were:

Answer: Properly disclosed as Giglio material and already known to the defense

Pre-trial Giglio disclosure of all CS payments neutralizes the impeachment attempt because defense counsel already received the information, and the jury can weigh the testimony with full knowledge of the CS's compensation.