Source: Women Against Registry (W.A.R)
[Please considering writing the letter they describe below. – Janice]
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Let’s Kill ICAC (Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force)
Let’s reach out to our Federal congressmen to oppose the funding of ICAC, which is the task force which uses all kinds of sketchy (and illegal) tactics to hunt down people who click on illegal images (which ICAC rarely takes down). In the current political climate, it seems crazy that they’re spending hundreds of millions of dollars on ICAC!
Way down at the bottom you’ll also find the letter that ChatGPT produced for me. You can use my letter if you’re slammed for time. Of if you have some time, you can create your own letter. But either way, please take a little time and do this today!
Here’s how you find out who your Federal Senators and Congressmen are and how to contact them: https://www.congress.gov/members/find-your-member
Please bombard all the Representatives and Senators you can to kill ICAC. Feel free to copy portions of this email in your correspondence with these officials. I live just outside D.C. and am willing to meet with any elected official or staffer to discuss this. You can offer my name and contact info. I am a certified expert witness and a faculty member of the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers, giving classes to attorneys on this topic.
On February 12, 2025, “U.S. Reps. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (FL-25), Jeff Van Drew (NJ-02), Jared Moskowitz (FL-23), Nathaniel Moran (TX-01), introduced the PROTECT Our Children Act, which would reauthorize and modernize the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force Program. Senators John Cornyn (R-TX) and Richard Blumenthal (D-CT) introduced the companion bill in the Senate.”
Reps. Wasserman Schultz, Van Drew, Moskowitz, Moran Introduce the PROTECT Our Children Act in the House | U.S. House of Representatives
ICAC is a racketeering organization that manufactures criminals to get money. Without a warrant, ICAC officers post pictures of young women (or men) on adult-only dating sites, waiting for a random man to reply. Male officers impersonate the woman, claim to be 15-years-old, then use entrapment to manufacture the crime of soliciting a minor. It is a federal crime to impersonate someone else and intercept private electronic communications intended for them, 18 U.S.C. 2511. There is no exception for police, and no exception even with written permission.
In addition, ICAC is wiretapping peer-to-peer networks without a warrant using tools like Torrential Downpour, Shareaza-LE, and Black Ice. Court documents show that email service providers like Gmail and Yahoo are wiretapping ALL their emails without a warrant to find anything “of interest” to the government. 18 U.S.C. protects emails and private file transfers just like phone calls. If a telephone company cannot listen to your phone call because it is carried on their equipment, then email service providers cannot read your email and police cannot monitor computer network traffic to see what files are transferred.
Here is a link to my book explaining the corruption:
Manufacturing Criminals, 2nd Edition: Wiretapping and Planting Evidence: Burkhardt, Bonnie: 9798879550528: Amazon.com: Books
Bonnie Burkhardt
(703)505-2793
SAMPLE LETTER:
[Your Name] [Your Address] [City, State, ZIP] [Your Email] [Your Phone Number] [Date]The Honorable [Congressman’s Name] [Congressman’s Office Address] [City, State, ZIP]
Subject: Oppose Funding for the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force
Dear [Congressman’s Name],
I am writing to strongly urge you to oppose any additional funding for the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force and to reject the PROTECT Our Children Act, which seeks to reauthorize and expand this deeply flawed program. At a time when our nation is facing mass layoffs of federal employees and significant budget constraints, it is outrageous that we continue funneling enormous amounts of taxpayer money into a program that has proven itself to be more about manufacturing criminals than actually protecting children.
ICAC operates as a government-funded entrapment scheme that ensnares unsuspecting individuals through tactics that should be illegal. Officers create fake profiles on adult-only dating sites, posing as young women or men to lure individuals into conversations before suddenly revealing that they are supposedly underage. This is not proactive law enforcement—it is a taxpayer-funded operation designed to justify its own existence by generating arrests, rather than addressing actual harm.
Moreover, ICAC and its affiliated agencies engage in unconstitutional warrantless surveillance, wiretapping peer-to-peer networks, and intercepting private emails in direct violation of 18 U.S.C. 2511. Tools such as Torrential Downpour and Shareaza-LE are being used without judicial oversight, turning ordinary citizens into felons through methods that should never be permissible in a free society.
Even if one supports ICAC’s mission in theory, there is no denying that its astronomical cost is unjustifiable in today’s economic climate. The federal government is currently laying off hundreds of thousands of workers, and yet, Congress continues to spend hundreds of millions of dollars funding ICAC task forces across the country. Why are we prioritizing this bloated, ineffective bureaucracy while cutting jobs in critical areas? If the goal is to reduce government waste, ICAC should be one of the first programs on the chopping block.
I urge you to stand for fiscal responsibility and ethical law enforcement practices by voting against any reauthorization or expansion of ICAC funding. Instead of spending millions manufacturing criminals, let’s redirect those funds to programs that actually support public safety and economic stability.
I appreciate your time and consideration on this critical matter. I would welcome the opportunity to discuss this further and can also connect you with expert witnesses who have studied ICAC’s abuses in depth. Please do not hesitate to reach out.
Sincerely,
[Your Name] [Your Address] [Your Email] [Your Phone Number]”
Read the
Seems like everything else in gov right now is getting defunded.
Let’s defund this one as well. And also Angel watch!
It would be nice if Elon Musk knew how useless the registry is and cuts its funding.
I’m against many things that DOGE is doing to our government. This is NOT one of them.
I’m just worried that – in this current climate of chaos and extremism – LEOs will soon be granted more oversteps and latitude into what they can get away with. For instance: My biggest nightmare is somehow an executive order that would absolutely strip ALL forced to register from Fourth Amendment protections.
During sweeps and compliance checks, they are ONLY allowed to entire your domicile if you’re (on paper) aka: probation.
I’m sure they’re clamoring to change that so they can entire everyone’s house who is forced to register. I’m sure they’ve been salivating over doing that for years and now is their chance to get.
Their goal is to sweep everyone’s house with their ESD dogs to increase the chances of new charges, convictions and incarcerations! Plus this would drive up the re-offense level for them.
Worse than Gestapo or ICE!
I modified the suggested letter and am sending my letter as follows:
I am writing to urge you to oppose additional funding for the Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force and to reject the PROTECT Our Children Act, which seeks to reauthorize and expand this deeply flawed program. At a time of significant budget constraints and federal workforce reductions, it is irresponsible to continue funneling taxpayer dollars into a program that relies on unconstitutional practices and entrapment tactics rather than genuine child protection.
ICAC has a troubling history of manufacturing crimes rather than preventing harm. Officers create deceptive profiles on adult-only platforms, initiating conversations under false pretenses before abruptly introducing an underage element to entrap individuals. These methods do not target actual predators; instead, they inflate arrest statistics to justify ICAC’s continued funding. Meanwhile, ICAC rarely takes action to remove illegal material from the internet, raising questions about its true priorities.
Rather than spending millions on these deceptive tactics, a far more effective and ethical approach would be investing in prevention. Educating young people on how to protect themselves from potential online predators and enforcing stricter measures to keep minors off adult dating platforms would do far more to prevent real harm. Additionally, equipping parents with the knowledge and tools to monitor their child’s online activity is one of the most powerful ways to ensure their safety. Many parents are unaware of the risks their children face online, and funding educational initiatives to help families navigate internet safety would be a far better use of resources than ICAC’s current strategy of creating crimes instead of preventing them.
Additionally, ICAC employs warrantless surveillance, including unauthorized wiretapping of peer-to-peer networks and mass email monitoring, in direct violation of 18 U.S.C. 2511. Investigative tools such as Torrential Downpour and Shareaza-LE operate without judicial oversight, undermining fundamental constitutional protections. These practices should not be tolerated in a society that values due process and privacy rights.
Even for those who support ICAC’s mission, its staggering costs are unjustifiable. With widespread federal job cuts affecting essential services, continuing to allocate hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to ICAC is fiscally irresponsible. If Congress is serious about eliminating government waste, this program should be a prime candidate for defunding.
I urge you to prioritize ethical law enforcement and responsible spending by opposing any reauthorization or expansion of ICAC funding. Instead of supporting a program that manufactures criminals, taxpayer dollars should be redirected to initiatives that genuinely enhance public safety—such as education programs that equip young people and parents with the knowledge and tools to protect themselves online.
I appreciate your time and consideration of this critical issue. I welcome the opportunity to discuss this further and can connect you with expert witnesses who have studied ICAC’s operations in depth. Please do not hesitate to reach out.
This BS also needs to be shown to Elon. I nominate Janice to write another letter to him. She does it better than any of us can.
All this money spent on breaking laws. People in positions of trust violating that trust to commit crimes against the people they are paid to protect.
Creating fake criminals to justify a paycheck!
Musk, please make it stop. Defund!
LOOK!!!!!!!!
“The DOGE Team is looking for world-class talent to work long hours identifying/eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse. These are full-time, salaried positions for software engineers, InfoSec engineers, and other technology professionals.”
https://doge.gov/join
Surely we have these talented people somewhere amongst the MILLION+ of us?
Politicians should get a pay cut to $7.15/hr with no benefits during their full term.