Justice Department Inspector General Report on FBI Handling of Moussaoui Information

Justice Department Inspector General Report on FBI Handling of Moussaoui Information

Floor Statement of Senator Chuck Grassley on June 19th, 2006

Sen. Chuck Grassley today issued the following comment after the Department of Justice Office of Inspector General released the Moussaoui section of the report "A Review of the FBI's Handling of Intelligence Information Related to the September 11Attacks."

Here is Grassley's comment.

"In typical FBI fashion, the missteps from 9-11 would have been swept under the rug if it weren't for whistleblowers like Coleen Rowley. Her actions may not have been perfect, but it looks to me like she's the only one who did anything to make sure the FBI was held responsible for its lack of responsiveness.

"What is much more troubling than the report's minor criticisms of Rowley is the way it describes the adversary relationship between the Minnesota field office and headquarters. It says that "friction" and a "clash of personalities" caused "poor communication and misunderstandings"(p. 202). No wonder the field office thought that headquarters was undermining the case. Unfortunately, this seems to be the norm, instead of the exception at FBI headquarters in dealing with its own field offices and with other law enforcement agencies, even after 9/11.

"As I dig deeper into the report, I expect it will shed some additional light on the failures of the FBI before 9-11, so the same mistakes aren't made twice."

http://grassley.senate.gov/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail&PressRelease_id=5101&Month=6&Year=2006