After having consulted an attorney to make sure that speaking about what happened to me will not incur another visit from the Secret Service, I am making this public post to tell you all several things.

Annie J. then adds a lengthy statement, couched in terms that sound like legal advice. She repeats that she is a non-violent person, and says 1) she has never had any military or weapons training; 2) she would never harm anyone, let alone the president, and would never encourage anyone else to harm him; 3) she wants to warn people to be careful about what they say on the Internet; 4) she's concerned about having an FBI file because she doesn't know what it will mean for her future.

She emphasizes that the Secret Service did not come looking for her as part of a federal fishing expedition, but because somebody denounced her. The FBI "received a report about my post," she writes, from somebody who had visited her site (whom she suspects she knows). She says she doesn't believe her rights were violated by the Secret Service agents who visited her, and she's not now considering filing a complaint. She also claims she doesn't feel intimidated.

To judge by her statement, however, it's pretty obvious she does feel intimidated. Which is not surprising. I'd bet most of us would feel intimidated if paid a visit by the Secret Service.

Question: Was what happened to Annie J. just a fluke? A friend of mine with a law degree, who regularly writes about the machinations of the U.S. government, says he's not surprised by what happened to her. It's not usual for citizens to be investigated by the FBI or the Secret Service, but it's not that uncommon.

Other questions: In the wake of the election, will a Justice Department led by Atty. Gen. John Ashcroft be freshly emboldened by the religious-right Moral Majority mandate of 59 million voters? Will FBI or Secret Service visits become all too common? Will friendly agent drop-ins become usual? Will denunciations become the norm? Is it paranoid to ask?

Lastly, as a point of information: Annie J. uses the terms "FBI" and "Secret Service" interchangeably, which gives the wrong impression. They are not one and the same. The FBI is the investigative arm of the U.S. Department of Justice, charged with various law-enforcement duties. It's top priority once was to investigate crime. Now it's to protect the U.S. from terrorist attack. The Secret Service is a branch of the U.S. Treasury Department, charged with protecting the president and the vice president.