In 2007 the Seattle P-I published a series of stories called “The Terrorism Trade-off,” in which we examined the decimation of the FBI’s criminal program in the years following 9/11. The story called attention to the lack of white collar crime investigation, anticipating the mortgage crisis a year later.

The stories were based in large part on my analysis more than 1 million records of federal criminal investigations obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. We concluded that changes in staffing had led to a precipitous drop in investigative activity. (See the methodology)

Our findings led to congressional hearings, became an issue in the 2008 presidential campaign and – after President Obama took office – resulted massive new funding for the FBI.

It was awarded the White House Correspondents Association’s Edward A. Poe Award for investigative reporting.

Here are PDFs of the major stories, provided as a public service since they are no longer available from SeattlePI.com, the P-I’s digital successor.

THE TERRORISM TRADE-OFF - FOCUS ON NATIONAL SECURITY AFTER 9/11 MEANS THAT THE FBI HAS TURNED ITS BACK ON THOUSANDS OF WHITE-COLLAR CRIMES
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) - April 11, 2007
By PAUL SHUKOVSKY, TRACY JOHNSON and DANIEL LATHROP
P-I reporters

HOW THE SEATTLE P-I PUT THIS STORY TOGETHER
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) - April 11, 2007

SEATTLE FBI OFFICE SEVERELY UNDERSTAFFED - THE NUMBER OF CRIMINAL CASES HANDLED HERE BY THE AGENCY IS OFF SHARPLY
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) - April 11, 2007
By DANIEL LATHROP
P-I investigative reporter

THE SUCCESS OF COUNTERTERRORISM EFFORTS DIFFICULT TO EVALUATE - BUT FBI AGENTS SAY THEY ARE TRACKING LEADS EXHAUSTIVELY
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) - April 11, 2007
By PAUL SHUKOVSKY
P-I reporter

FBI BLASTED FOR CUTS IN CRIME FIGHTING - DEMOCRATS EXPRESS OUTRAGE OVER TRANSFER OF AGENTS TO TERRORISM FOCUS
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) - April 12, 2007
By PAUL SHUKOVSKY, TRACY JOHNSON and DANIEL LATHROP
P-I reporters

FBI OPENING FAR FEWER CIVIL RIGHTS INQUIRIES - TERRORISM SUPERSEDES HATE CRIMES, POLICE ABUSE
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) - April 26, 2007
By PAUL SHUKOVSKY, TRACY JOHNSON and DANIEL LATHROP
P-I reporters

FBI LACKS RESOURCES TO FIGHT BOOM IN MORTGAGE FRAUD - 2,500 AGENTS REASSIGNED TO TERRORISM WEREN’T REPLACED
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) - July 5, 2007 By DANIEL LATHROP
P-I investigative reporter

LEFT TO FIGHT A DRUG WAR ALONE - TRIBES SEE FBI SUPPORT DWINDLE
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) - August 20, 2007
By PAUL SHUKOVSKY and DANIEL LATHROP
P-I reporters

MURRAY TO FBI: YOU’RE PUTTING STATE AT RISK - SENATOR CALLS FOR AGENCY TO ASSIGNMORE AGENTS
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) - September 18, 2007
By PAUL SHUKOVSKY and DANIEL LATHROP
P-I reporters

FBI FACES DEEP CUTS IN PROGRAMS TO FIGHT CRIME - AGENTS STILL BEING TRANSFERRED TO COUNTERTERRORISM
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) - September 28, 2007
By PAUL SHUKOVSKY and DANIEL LATHROP
P-I reporters

BID TO STRENGTHEN FBI IN NORTHWEST GAINS GROUND
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) - October 5, 2007
By DANIEL LATHROP
P-I reporter

BILL SEEKS DETAILS ON FBI STAFFING - BOTH PARTIES BY MURRAY’S SIDE
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) - December 20, 2007
By DANIEL LATHROP and PAUL SHUKOVSKY
P-I reporters

NO NEW MONEY FOR FBI’S CRIME SQUADS - BUDGET WOULD FUND NEW AGENTS ONLY FOR NATIONAL SECURITY
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) - May 19, 2008
By PAUL SHUKOVSKY and DANIEL LATHROP
P-I reporters

SENATE PANEL TO WEIGH FBI CRIME SQUAD FUNDS - SUBCOMMITTEE MAY TRY TO REVERSE CUTS TO CRIMINAL DIVISION
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) - June 18, 2008
By PAUL SHUKOVSKY and DANIEL LATHROP
P-I reporters

OBAMA VOWS TO REBUILD FBI RANKS - THE MOST SERIOUS THREAT TO COUNTRY IS TERRORISM, MCCAIN CAMP COUNTERS
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) - July 16, 2008
By PAUL SHUKOVSKY and DANIEL LATHROP
P-I reporters

MURRAY BLASTS REPORT ON FBI - SENATOR TO KEEP PUSHING FOR CHANGE
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) - July 26, 2008
By PAUL SHUKOVSKY and DANIEL LATHROP
P-I reporters

HELP TO TAKE ON WALL ST.? FBI IS TOLD NO - MANY MORE AGENTS NEEDED, OFFICIAL SAYS
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) - October 31, 2008
By PAUL SHUKOVSKY and DANIEL LATHROP
P-I reporters

BUDGET SEEKS $1 BILLION MORE FOR FBI - RESTORING THE FIGHT AGAINST WHITE-COLLAR CRIME
Seattle Post-Intelligencer (WA) - February 28, 2009
By DANIEL LATHROP and PAUL SHUKOVSKY
P-I reporters