Coleen Rowley

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Coleen Rowley (born December 20, 1954) is a former FBI agent and whistleblower, and a current candidate for Congress.

Rowley was born in New Hampton, Iowa and attended Wartburg College in Waverly, Iowa, graduating in 1977 with a degree in French. In 1980, she received her J.D. from the University of Iowa College of Law and passed the Iowa Bar Exam.

Shortly after she became a Special Agent with the FBI. She was assigned to the Omaha, Nebraska and Jackson, Mississippi Divisions. Beginning in 1984, she spent six years working in the New York Office on investigations involving organized crime. She also served temporarily in the US embassy in Paris, and the consulate in Montreal. In 1990, she was assigned to the FBI's Minneapolis office where she became the chief legal advisor to the office.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Rowley wrote a memorandum to FBI Director Robert Mueller claiming that FBI HQ personnel in Washington, D.C., had mishandled and neglected to take action on information provided by the Minneapolis, Minnesota Field Office regarding its investigation of suspected terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui, believed to have been involved in preparations for the September 11, 2001 attacks. She jointly held the TIME "Person of the Year" award in 2002 with two other women credited as whisteblowers: Sherron Watkins from Enron and Cynthia Cooper of WorldCom.

She testified in front of the senate about the FBI's mishandling of information related to the September 11, 2001 attacks. Deputy General Counsel Marion "Spike" Bowman was her boss in that time of investigations. She retired from the FBI in 2004 after 24 years with the agency.

In May 2005, Rowley announced that she was considering running against incumbent John Kline for Minnesota's 2nd District seat in the United States House of Representatives in 2006. At the time of her announcement, she had been living in Apple Valley, Minnesota for 15 years. On June 27, 2005, Rowley announced that she will enter the race as a Democrat, and officially kicked off her campaign at her home on July 6.

On August 18, 2005 she attended a vigil in Crawford, TX outside President George W. Bush's ranch demanding the president meet with Cindy Sheehan to answer Sheehan's questions regarding the War in Iraq.

On January 3, 2006, a doctored photo appeared on the Rowley campaign website depicting her opponent in the congressional race, Congressmann John Kline, as Colonel Klink from Hogan's Heroes. Represenatative Kline objected to the photo, particularly for its connotation of equating a United States soldier to a Nazi. The campaign removed the photo and apologized.

On February 20, 2006, Sharon Marko entered the DFL primary for the Minnesota 2nd district in opposition to Rowley. Marko withdrew from the race less than two months later, but declined to endorse Rowley in her place. [link] Minnesota congressman Jim Oberstar has endorsed Rowley.

External links

[Coleen Rowley's website]
[PBS NOW biography]
[Doctored photo depicting Representative Kline as Colonel Klink]
[Pioneer Press article on Rowley campaigns apology]
[The Purity of Coleen Rowley], Mother Jones, March/April 2006 issue

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