Don’t blame us, the FBI says about the disclosure of the identity of the person who fingered notorious Boston gangster James (Whitey) Bulger.

Bulger was identified by a former Miss Iceland, Anna Bjornsdottir, as Main Justice reported ^[1] on Monday. Her role in spotting the fugitive Bulger and ending his years on the run was first reported by The Boston Globe.  Now, the FBI’s Boston office has posted a statement ^[2] declaring that it had no role in naming Bjornsdottir, as Allan Lengel notes ^[3] on his Tickle the Wire blog.

“In defending against public criticism about the decision to publish the name of the alleged tipster, reporters and editors from the news outlet attempted to justify it by stating the FBI did not raise any objections in advance,” the bureau said. “That explanation suggested the FBI was culpable for the publishing of this information. To the contrary, the FBI’s silence on these inquiries should not be seen as acquiescence to that editorial decision. Had the FBI responded one way or the other, the effect would have been to confirm or deny the identity of one of the tipsters.”

Jennifer Peter, The Globe’s deputy managing editor for local news, said the newspaper never said the FBI had no objections to identifying the tipster, only that it did not raise any concerns about her personal safety. “A great deal of thought and discussion went into the decision to name the tipster,’’ Peter said. “And in a case such as this, where there have been so many deceptions and lies in the past and where there were so many conspiracy theories circulating as to what actually happened, it seemed imperative to give as accurate and full an accounting as we could.’’

The capture of Bulger and girlfriend Catherine Greig (sometimes the spelling has been “Grieg”) came in part because they had a soft spot for a cat, as Main Justice recounted ^[1].  Bulger, who just turned 82, was a part-time informant for the FBI as well as a full-time thug and mobster (see our earlier report ^[4]), so it’s understandable that the bureau wants to distance itself from the continuing controversy over the case.