Official that led 1993 Twin Towers bombing response called the 'worst FBI agent in history'
Topics: US News
Callum Jones
Featured Image Credit: Stacy Walsh Rosenstock / Alamy Stock Photo
Topics: US News
The workings of the inside of the FBI are often kept very close to the chest, but sometimes ex-employees of the intelligence service spill the tea.
In November 2021, former FBI Interrogation Expert Jim DiOrio was a guest on the TRENDIFIER podcast with Julian Dorey.
In the lengthy three-hour chat, DiOrio revealed his thoughts on a counter-terrorism official who was in charge during the 1993 Twin Towers terrorist attack.
The attack took place in February 1993, when a truck bomb detonated below the North Tower.
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Six people died as a result of the attack, and over 1,000 non-fatal injuries were recorded.
Former FBI employee DiOrio believes more could have been done to prevent this and labelled Carson Dunbar as the 'worst FBI agent in history'.
He said: "We had a bombing in '93 in the World Trade Center.
"You knew they were going to do it, we f**king put reports forward to Carson Dunbar in New York.
"F**king worst FBI agent in history and he went on to take over New Jersey State Police.
"The guy's a moron."
The host of the podcast then asked if Dunbar was head of the counter-terrorism.
DiOrio continued: "Yeah, yeah. We sent him a report, a 63-page report.
"They don't give a s**t about taking off or landing, they just want to learn to steer the f**king aircraft."
Podcast host Julian Dorey then asked if John O'Neil, another former counter-terrorism official, was in charge - but DiOrio said Dunbar was essentially calling the shots.
"Carson Dunbar was New York's guy, he was the assistant director in charge there," said DiOrio.
The pair then discussed some of the mechanisms in-place to stop and limit the damage of a terrorist attack.
DiOrio argued the Twin Towers should have been on high alert ever since the 1993 attack, implying the FBI could have been better prepared for 9/11.
The former FBI employee concluded: "If the first bombing doesn't trigger some type of defence mechanism that stays on that for the rest of time....
"A school kid could f**king connect that, we chose not to because of personalities like John O'Neil."
Carson Dunbar was appointed Assistant Special Agent in charge of the intelligence division in the New York field office in 1987 and later took over responsibility for international terrorism investigations.
During his time in the role, he was the FBI contact for former Egyptian military officer Emad Salem, who had infiltrated terrorist groups operating in the US, including those who were later convicted in the 1993 Twin Towers attack.
Dunbar dropped him as an informer in 1992 and was widely criticised for that decision.
Some of his colleagues even suggested that keeping Salem might have helped prevent the 1993 attack.
Speaking to press in 1999, Dunbar reflected on his handling of the attacks: "I was there and other people weren't.
"I made decisions that I believe were right. It's very easy to come back and say why didn't you do this or that. It's a little bit more difficult when you're making the decisions."
Elsewhere in the podcast, Jim DiOrio lifted the lid on some top-secret Al-Qaeda cases and the war in Afghanistan.
The former FBI agent also spoke on his time overseas as an Army Ranger in the late 80s and early 90s before leaving the army and joining the intelligence and security service.
You can listen to the full podcast here.
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