The FBI Wants to Interview You

Welcome to Spodek Law Group. If you're reading this, you probably just received a message that made your stomach drop. An FBI agent called. Left a voicemail. Sent a message through a colleague. They want to "talk." They want to "ask a few questions." They said you're not in trouble - they just need your help with an investigation.

Here's what nobody else will tell you: that friendly request is one of the most dangerous moments of your life. And how you respond in the next few hours could determine everything that follows.

What an FBI Interview Request Really Means

An FBI interview request isnt the start of an investigation. Its often the closing act of one you didnt know existed.

Think about what had to happen before that phone call reached you. Someone filed a complaint or made a report. Agents were assigned. They pulled records. They subpoenaed documents. They interviewed witnesses. They reviewed your emails, your bank statements, your business dealings. They built a timeline. They formed a theory.

All of that happened before anyone contacted you.

If agents had enough evidence to charge you, they wouldnt be asking questions. Theyd be serving warrants.

The voluntary interview exists becuase they need something more. Maybe they need confirmation of what they already beleive. Maybe they need you to contradict a document so they can add a false statement charge. Maybe they need to establish that youll lie when confronted.

Heres the uncomfortable reality. By the time the FBI wants to talk to you, theyve already decided your relevant to a criminal investigation. Your either a target, a subject, or a witness. But the categories arent as protective as they sound. Witnesses become subjects. Subjects become targets. And targets become defendants.

Consider the economics of this situation. Agents could subpoena you to a grand jury. They could get a search warrant. They could compel testimony under oath. Instead, there asking for a friendly conversation. Why? Becuase voluntary interviews are free, require no judicial oversight, and exploit the natural human desire to cooperate. The informal approach works precisley becuase people dont understand they can refuse.

The Information Gap You Can't See

Agents have reviewed documents youve forgotten, witnesses you dont know about, and evidence youve never seen. Your operating blind.

Lets think about what this asymmetry actualy means in practice. The agents sitting across from you have a case file. They know what other witnesses said. They know what the documents show. They know what inconsistencies there looking for.

You have none of that information. Your being asked to recall events from months or years ago, without any documents, without any preparation, without even knowing what the investigation is about.

There is no "off the record" with FBI agents. Every word, including pre-interview small talk, is being catalogued.

Think about what happens before the official questions even start. The agents arrive. They introduce themselves. They ask about your job, your family, your commute. It feels like small talk. It isnt. There establishing baseline behavior. There assessing how you respond. There noting everything you say - even the throwaway comments youd never expect to matter.

Every question has a purpose. And that purpose isnt to help you.

How Your Words Become Evidence Against You

You cant "clear your name" in an FBI interview. Thats not what interviews are designed to do. They collect evidence, not exoneration.

According to 18 USC 1001, its a federal crime to make any false statement to a federal agent. The statute dosent require an oath. It dosent require a formal setting. A doorstep conversation counts. A phone call counts. An email counts.

18 USC 1001: Five years federal prison for any false statement. No oath. Memory failure counts. Doorstep conversation counts.

OK so think about what "false statement" actualy means under this statute. Its not just deliberate lying. Its any statement that contradicts evidence - evidence you may never have seen.

An agent asks about a meeting from three years ago. You say you dont recall attending. But they have an email showing you confirmed. You just made a false statement.

An agent asks about a transaction. You describe it one way. Bank records show it happened differently. You werent lying - you just remembered wrong. But that memory failure is now a federal felony.

In Brogan v. United States (1998), the Supreme Court eliminated the "exculpatory no" doctrine. Before that case, simply denying guilt wasnt prosecutable. Now it is. Even saying "no" to a direct accusation can become a federal charge.

The FD-302 Problem

FBI dosent record interviews. Agents take notes, write summaries hours later in there words, and that summary becomes evidence against you.

This is one of the most troubling aspects of FBI interview procedure. As documented in a Federal Defenders analysis, the FBIs standard practice is to have one agent asking questions while another takes handwritten notes.

Those notes are not a transcript. There impressions, summaries, fragments. Days or weeks later, those notes become an FD-302 - the official documentation of what you said.

The FD-302 becomes trial evidence, written by the witness testifying against you, based on notes youll never see.

Heres what makes this particulary dangerous. You have no ability to challenge the accuracy of the 302. It becomes a he-said/they-said situation. Two FBI agents in suits insisting there summary is accurate versus you. Who does a jury beleive?

And any inconsistency between what you actualy said and what the 302 claims you said becomes a potential 1001 violation.

Think about what happens at trial. The prosecutor introduces the FD-302 as evidence of your statements. The agent who wrote it testifies that its an accurate summary. You disagree. But you have no recording, no transcript, no contemporaneous documentation. The 302 was created by trained federal agents following established procedure. How do you prove its wrong?

This documentation system has been criticized by defense attorneys and civil liberties advocates for decades. Yet it persists becuase it advantages the prosecution. The absence of recordings isnt an oversight - its policy.

When Innocence Becomes Your Biggest Risk

The more innocent you are, the more dangerous talking becomes. Innocent people speak freely and create the inconsistencies prosecutors need.

This is the paradox that destroys people. Your innocent. You have nothing to hide. So you talk. You explain. You try to be helpful. You answer every question fully becuase thats what innocent people do.

And in doing so, you create exactley the inconsistencies prosecutors need.

Martha Stewart went to prison for lying about conduct that was never charged. Michael Flynn was convicted for interview statements, not Russia.

Lets be absolutley clear about what happened in those cases. Martha Stewart sold ImClone stock in 2001. The government investigated insider trading. They couldnt prove it. The underlying charges went nowhere. But Martha Stewart still went to prison - for what she said during FBI interviews about conduct that was never established as criminal.

Michael Flynns conversations with Russian officials were never charged as crimes. The Logan Act prosecution never happened. What destroyed his career and cost millions in legal fees was what he said during an FBI interview - statements memorialized in an FD-302 that became the basis for federal charges.

The pattern repeats constantly in federal prosecutions. Defendants who could have beaten the underlying charges go to prison for what they said during interviews. The government dosent need to prove the original crime if they can prove you lied about it.

The interview itself becomes the crime.

What FBI Agents Are Actually Doing

FBI interview tactics arent conversation techniques. There interrogation methods. The friendly approach IS the interrogation.

Quantico trains agents in rapport-building and interrogation. They dont teach different methods for white-collar cases.

Think about what that means. The agent sitting across from you has been trained to extract information. The warmth, the understanding, the sympathetic nods - all of it is technique. All of it is designed to lower your defenses and get you talking.

The same methods used on gang members and terrorists are used on accountants and executives. The FBI dosent have a separate playbook for professionals. They have interrogation training, and they use it on everyone.

Heres how the training works. Start friendly. Build connection. Establish rapport. Make the subject comfortable. Get them talking about anything - family, work, the weather. Once the conversation is flowing, introduce the hard questions. By then, the pattern of answering is established. Refusing to continue feels awkward.

The agents may express disappointment if you stop. They may imply your making things worse. There trained to say exactley that. Its technique, not truth.

Look at the information asymmetry this creates. You walk into an interview thinking its a conversation between equals. The agents have files, documents, witness statements, and a theory. You have memories from years ago and a beleif that honesty will protect you. Thats not a level playing field. Thats a setup designed to extract incriminating statements from people who dont understand the danger.

The Only Response That Protects You

"I want to speak with an attorney before answering any questions." Those fourteen words are the only ones that protect you.

Lets get specific about what to do when the FBI wants to interview you.

If agents call or appear in person, your response should be polite but firm: "I understand your doing your job, but Im not comfortable answering questions without speaking to an attorney first. Im happy to have my lawyer contact you. May I have your card?"

Thats it. That statement is constitutionaly protected. It cant be used against you. It dosent suggest guilt. Its what sophisticated people do when faced with federal investigators.

Requesting an attorney is what innocent people do. Talking without preparation is what guilty people do when trying to control damage.

What NOT to do:

• Dont try to "clear things up" in a quick conversation
• Dont answer "just a few questions" to seem cooperative
• Dont explain your side of things without counsel
• Dont believe that truth alone will protect you

At Spodek Law Group, Todd Spodek has represented countless clients who wish theyd called an attorney before talking to the FBI. We understand the pressure to cooperate. We know how frightening it is to refuse federal agents. And we can position you properly before any interview happens - if an interview should happen at all.

What Happens After You Decline

Declining might trigger a grand jury subpoena. Thats actually better - it comes with protections the voluntary interview dosent.

Heres what typicaly happens when you decline an FBI interview request. The agents note your refusal. They may express disappointment. They may imply consequences. Then they decide what to do next.

One possibility: nothing. Without your statement, there case may be weaker. The investigation may stall. They may move on to other targets.

Another possibility: they seek a grand jury subpoena compelling your testimony. This sounds worse but provides significant protections. You have time to prepare. You can have an attorney present outside the room. You can invoke the Fifth Amendment for specific questions. The setting is formal, not ambush.

The voluntary interview provides none of those protections. No attorney. No preparation. No Fifth Amendment strategy. Just you and trained interrogators hoping youll talk yourself into charges.

Consider what the refusal actualy communicates. It tells the government you understand your rights. It tells them your sophisticated enough to seek counsel. It demonstrates that you wont be an easy mark for 1001 violations. Ironicaly, the "uncooperative" response is often the one that signals your taking the matter seriously and responsibly.

Dont let a phone call determine your future. The FBI has been preparing for this conversation for months or years. You should prepare too - and preparation means having experienced federal defense counsel at your side before any words are exchanged.

Call us at 212-300-5196. Because the interview they're requesting could change your life forever.