Frank Report published the story Ex-FBI Leader in Albany Accused of Sexually Harassing Eight Employees – Was He a Chip off the Old Vanguard?
The story is about James N. Hendricks, 50, the former special agent in charge of the FBI’s Albany field office. He was fired or permitted to resign in May. {We have previously reported on the amazing fact that FBI Albany declined to investigate its hometown criminal enterprise, Nxivm, for decades and embarrassingly to them – FBI NYC had to take down the sinister cult.
Hendricks however did not come to Albany until after Raniere was arrested so it’s not fair to lay the blame on him for turning a blind eye to Nxivm leader Keith Raniere. However, his staff there, the ones who sought, rightly or wrongly, his ouster, were around and no one at FBI Albany over the long years Raniere abused women, children and other men were willing to do a thing about this blatant criminal who branded and blackmailed women.
It is not as if there were no complaints. Kristin Keeffe went to FBI Albany. Barbara Bouchey went to them. Joe O’Hara. John Tighe.
But that was not Hendrick’s fault.
He was the subject of an FBI internal investigation that claimed a preponderance of evidence showed he sexually harassed eight subordinate employees [six in Albany and two at his FBI headquarters where he worked before] and created a hostile work environment for another employee with whom he had an intimate relationship.
Hendricks was appointed head of the Albany field office in July 2018, after serving as a section chief for a Weapons of Mass Destruction unit at FBI headquarters in Washington, D.C. Hendricks was a police officer in Henderson, Ky., before joining the FBI in 1998 – and that figures into our narrative – for he has been suspected of possibly having an affair with a young lady who disappeared and was never heard from again.
The Inspector General for the DOJ issued this summary of their investigation of Hendricks for the public:
INVESTIGATIVE SUMMARY
Findings of Misconduct by a then Federal Bureau of Investigation Special Agent in Charge [Hendricks] for Sexual Harassment, Failure to Report an Intimate Relationship with a Subordinate, and Lack of Candor
The Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (OIG) initiated this investigation upon the receipt of information from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Inspection Division alleging that a then FBI Special Agent in Charge (SAC) had sexually harassed multiple employees and failed to report an intimate relationship with a subordinate.
The OIG investigation found that the SAC sexually harassed six subordinate employees while serving as the SAC and two subordinate employees while serving in a previous position as a Section Chief at FBI Headquarters, failed to report an intimate relationship with a subordinate, engaged in actions following the end of that relationship that created a hostile work environment for the subordinate, and lacked candor during the SAC’s interview with the OIG, all in violation of FBI policy. The OIG investigation also found that the SAC violated the Department of Justice’s zero tolerance policy with respect to sexual harassment.
The OIG has completed its investigation and provided its report to the FBI for appropriate action.
Unless otherwise noted, the OIG applies the preponderance of the evidence standard in determining whether Department of Justice personnel have committed misconduct.
Posted to oig.justice.gov on May 21, 2020
***
What seems to have happened is that Hendricks broke up with his subordinate FBI agent/lover and allegedly made things hard on her afterwards. Several other women claim he sexually harassed them at FBI Albany – and two more back in DC at headquarters.
That’s a total of eight – which seems like a lot for all of them to be lying.
However, before rushing to judgment, let’s note that Hendricks was the newcomer to Albany – and the boss too – placed above other agents who were there longer than him. The other agents probably knew each other for some time, and Hendricks comes in, becomes the boss over all of them and starts an affair with one of them. In the end, his subordinates may have ganged up on him and ousted him when the relationship went sour with his lover.
This notion of mine got some support from someone who claims to be in the know. Here is a comment from someone who seems to know something about this matter, including possibly the name of Hendricks’ antagonist, [his ex-FBI lover?] whose initials might be A.V.:
The anonymous commenter wrote: “There is a lot more to this story. Hendricks was railroaded because he wanted to make FBI Albany follow the rules. There is the FBI way and there is the FBI Albany way. Too many loyalists to AV hidden in the office. They were not gonna let the previous SAC’s image be tarnished by Hendricks exposing the FBI Albany way.”
Just who the previous SAC the commenter referred to is is hard to know.
FBI Albany has had five different SACs since 2013.
Andrew Vale served about 4 years [2013-2017].
Vadim Thomas served about a year. [2017-2018]
Acting SAC Janelle Miller served for about four months. [2018]
Hendricks served from Nov. 2018 to May 2020.
Thomas Relford is the current SAC for FBI Albany.
That’s seems like a pretty high rate of turnover. There may be quite a bit of internal conflicts and the subordinates may be in charge of FBI Albany – insisting that they do things the FBI Albany way.
May the same group that oust Hendricks are responsible for the high turnover rate of SACs at FBI Albany.
Heather Teague and James Hendricks
This is something that bears investigation: The disappearance of Heather Teague, a young woman who disappeared in 1995, who, depending on who you believe, met Hendricks only once, or was having an affair with him, possibly using drugs and selling them with his consent and possibly for his profit.
Becky Mash is a blogger who has been investigating Heather’s disappearance, working with Heather’s mother.
After I published my first story on Hendricks, Becky wrote to me that Hendricks, when he was a police officer in Kentucky, saw Heather Teague shortly before Heather disappeared.
Here is Becky Mash’s email to me:
Hi,
I think Samantha Deegan, former FBI, (possibly found [now living] in Lexington, KY?) has a lot of information about Hendricks from the time Hendricks was hers and Jerry Garner’s boss at the FBI.
Sam and Jerry Garner (as FBI [agents]) investigated the disappearance of Heather Teague around 2008. (The kidnapping occurred in 1995.) James Hendricks was a local police officer when Heather went missing. Hendricks and Heather had dealings with each other when she went missing.
Isn’t it odd that Hendricks goes on to become FBI, and ends up being the boss of Samantha Deegan and Jerry L. Garner, the agents assigned to [investigate] Heather’s case in 2008?
My friend Sarah, Heather’s mom, told me Samantha Deegan was deathly afraid of someone when she was working that case. It drove her to quit the FBI and we understand she has had a very bad time of things ever since. I think she knows something very, very bad about this man [Hendricks].
It is my opinion this man has been an asset for the bad guys and was placed in the FBI for that purpose. Talk to his ex, Shannon- she also knows he is a very bad man. It is my friend’s understanding Hendricks and Shannon divorced because he lied about knowing Heather.
This is the first break my friend has had concerning her missing daughter in 20+ years. I feel if we keep digging and piling on pressure, someone is going to talk. Maybe you can help us in that.
Thanks for writing that article- thank you, thank you, thank you.
Becky Mash
***
Mash has been pushing for clues about Heather Teague for several years.
She wrote on her blog FindHeatherTeague.com several stories about Hendrick’s possible role in Heather’s disappearance. The following is particularly interesting because it includes a purported conversation between Hendricks and Heather’s mother, more than 13 years after Heather disappeared.
Consider the strangeness of this. Hendricks was a police officer in Kentucky who knew Heather or at least met her shortly before she disappeared.
Hendricks then joins the FBI and somehow becomes the supervisory agent in the investigation of Heather’s disappearance which is being investigated as a kidnapping. Just a coincidence perhaps. But it gets more suspicious.
Apparently while FBI Special Agent Hendricks is in charge of investigating Heather’s abduction, he goes to the surprising lengths of actually visiting the mother – 13 years after Heather disappeared – to essentially deny he had a relationship with Heather or acted improperly in not reporting a suspicious incident with Heather.
Hendricks tells her mother he did not know Heather at all.
Becky Mash wrote on her blog:
Heather Teague disappeared August 26, 1995 from the Kentucky side of the Ohio River at Newburgh Beach near Reed, KY.
Can you help us find her?
The following is the opinion of the site author {Becky Mash], and not necessarily that of Sarah Teague or the Teague family.
The more I research the Heather Teague disappearance, the more the line blurs between the good guys and the bad. Did FBI agents James Hendricks and Jerry L. Garner premeditate giving a false narrative to a grieving mother of a young missing woman? If so, these falsehoods must be exposed and examined for motive.
On February 18th 2009, FBI agents Jerry Garner and James Hendricks made a special visit to Sarah Teague’s home in Madisonville, Kentucky. James Hendricks was employed by the Henderson police as a beat officer at the time Heather Teague went missing. The purpose of Hendricks’ and Garner’s visit to the Teague home was twofold: to persuade Sarah that rumors she had heard of a relationship between her daughter and James Hendricks were false, and to persuade Sarah to accept there was no connection between her daughter’s disappearance and government corruption.
Let’s examine some of the statements James Hendricks and Jerry Garner made to Sarah Teague that day:
I don’t have to point out how unlikely it is a police officer drove away from a young woman, leaving her alone in her car underneath a boat ramp at 2 or 3 in the morning, especially after lecturing her about the dangers of being out there alone.
Did James Hendricks and Jerry Garner really believe Sarah Teague would never find out just how suspect their statements would be? It took time, but Sarah Teague believes in Biblical reckoning: “…for nothing is covered up that will not be uncovered, and nothing secret that will not become known.” That reckoning is one day closer: examine these recent statements made to Sarah Teague by someone who knew her daughter personally:
Remember what James Hendricks said when questioned by Sarah Teague if he knew Heather before: “No. It just stood out to me, you know, a young girl, in a car, and the name just stood out to me. And then about three weeks later is when it hit me: I realized that was the Heather I had encountered.”
Remember what James Hendricks said when Sarah Teague stated there were indications Heather was working with the police: “I had no knowledge of that.”
Remember what Jerry Garner said about government corruption: “I want you to know as I sit here today I am not aware of any kind of conspiracy or corruption on the part of a government official or person carrying a badge.”
Back in October of 2018 I posted an entry entitled “The Man at the Birthday Party.” Here is an excerpt:
It’s my opinion not only did the Federal Bureau of Investigations not investigate that which they should have investigated, I believe they actively practiced to deceive Sarah Teague about the facts of the case. I believe James Hendricks, current special agent [now actually former] in charge of New York’s Albany field office, especially has some explaining to do.
[end of Becky’s post]
***
This obviously bears looking into. Reportedly witnesses say that Hendricks knew Heather Teague, partied with her, had a sexual affair with her and then she disappears.
And other witnesses say Hendricks sexually harassed eight different FBI women and treated one woman who he had an affair with very harshly because she broke off with him.
Hendricks might be seriously out of control. He might have been the person behind the abduction of Heather Teague or he may just be an unfortunate man who keeps getting accused of things he did not do.
His career at the FBI is over. It is not known what he is doing now.
We will have more on this subject.
[…] Ousted FBI Agent in Charge at FBI Albany – James Hendricks – Is There More to the Story? […]
Maybe AV is former SAC Andy Vale? Seems to make sense. He was the one there the longest and is rumored to have been the one covering up the NXVIM case in Albany. Have you looked into him?
No. But it is strange that Nxivm was untouched for decades in Albany.
Becky Mash doesn’t exist. You got suckered!
I did speak to her on the phone.
Are you a journalist or a National Equirer typist? You should be embarrassed. This is why people question your work.
Do your due diligence when reporting. Most of your article is based on opinion. Not facts. You are effectively ruining a man’s life based on opinions. Your credentials don’t impress me. Truth impresses me. This is full of lies and bullshit. Do your duty as a “reporter of the truth”….