At least 22 Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents cheated on an exam testing their comprehension of rules for terrorism and criminal investigations, according to a U.S. Justice Department report released on Sept. 27, 2010.  An internal investigation uncovered “a significant number of FBI employees engaged in some form of improper conduct” during an open-book test based on the agency’s 2008 Domestic Investigations and Operations Guide (DIOG). Approved in late 2008, the DIOG sets the standards and procedures that guide the FBI’s domestic operations, including counterterrorism and counterintelligence.

According to the Washington Post, the investigation of the cheating scandal began in September 2009 after it was reported that the three managers from the FBI Washington Field Office took the exam together and may have received additional assistance. The former head of that office retired in December amid speculation of scandal and the other two were reassigned.

“We will follow-up in each of the 22 cases the (Inspector General) has found for disciplinary action, as appropriate, as well as any other allegations of misconduct,” FBI Director Robert Mueller said in a statement.  Neither the director nor the report identified the cheaters by name.

The DIOG has been widely criticized because it permits the use of racial profiling by law enforcement in their investigations. At a July hearing before the Senate Judiciary committee, FBI Director Robert Mueller responded to a question by Sen. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) in which he incorrectly stated that the guidelines require a reasonable suspicion before conducting surveillance. He later issued a correction to the Senator.

In July 2010, 32 ACLU affiliates filed Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests in more than two dozen states to view DIOG documents that would show what racial data the FBI collects and how it is used.  Additionally, a prominent American Muslim civil rights group filed a lawsuit in September 2009 seeking the “full disclosure of the standards and procedures utilized by FBI agents” in response to reports exposing FBI surveillance on U.S. mosques.