The FBI's Washington Field Office has begun recruiting agents for an anti-obscenity task force, according to a report in today's Washington Post.
According to the story, the new squad will divert eight agents, a supervisor and assorted support staff to gather evidence against "manufacturers and purveyors" of pornography - not the kind exploiting children, but the kind that depicts, and is marketed to, consenting adults.
A electronic job posting describing the task referred to it as "one of the top priorities" of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Some officials weren't exactly thrilled that this was a priority given the administration's current war on terror and other issues of the day.
Among friends and trusted colleagues, an experienced national security analyst told the Post, "it's a running joke for us."
The Post said that Gonzales endorses the rationale of predecessor Edwin Meese: that adult pornography is a threat to families and children. Christian conservatives greeted the initiative with what the Family Research Council called "a growing sense of confidence in our new attorney general," according to the story.
Click here for the full report.
