TOPICS
TOPICS
House Democrats press FBI on 2001 anthrax attacks, security guidelines
Top Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee Friday asked the FBI to answer a series of far-reaching questions in anticipation of an upcoming oversight hearing, including whether the White House pressured the agency to conclude that the 2001 anthrax attacks were caused by al Qaeda or linked to Iraq.
In a letter to FBI Director Robert Mueller, the lawmakers also questioned whether the agency failed to help prevent the nation's mortgage crisis and asked if new national security guidelines could be postponed until the next administration comes into office.
"As the committee prepares for our FBI oversight hearing on September 16 at which you will testify, we have become increasingly concerned about a number of troubling issues that have recently surfaced in media reports and congressional briefings implicating the actions and operations of the FBI," wrote House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, D-Mich., Judiciary Crime Subcommittee Chairman Bobby Scott, D-Va., and Judiciary Constitution Subcommittee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y.
Specifically, the Democrats asked Mueller to identify any White House officials who pressed the bureau to show that the anthrax attacks were "a second wave" of attacks by al Qaeda, or that the anthrax was of a weapons-grade quality that could be linked to Iraq. They questioned why government scientist Steven Hatfill remained a suspect in the investigation after evidence pointed away from him, and asked why government scientist Bruce Ivins was allowed to keep his security clearance after he became a prime suspect.
Ivins committed suicide in July, just as the government was about to file formal charges against him for an alleged connection to the anthrax attacks. The lawmakers also questioned whether the FBI "seriously erred" in helping to mitigate or prevent the national mortgage crisis.
"We are ... concerned about recent reports indicating that the FBI may have contributed to the current subprime mortgage crisis by failing to act on its knowledge of wide-scale mortgage fraud," they wrote. "It also appears that the FBI failed to prioritize this crime, as evidenced by the reported decrease in the number of agents devoted to the issue and the attorney general's refusal to create a national task force to centralize FBI mortgage fraud investigations."
The lawmakers also said serious questions have been raised about a plan by Attorney General Michael Mukasey to consolidate FBI rules for gathering intelligence on criminal, terrorism and foreign activity. In particular, the lawmakers asked if the administration would consider not consolidating the guidelines in favor of making suggested changes to the new administration in January. "It is not clear to us that the proposed consolidated guidelines will prevent innocent citizens from coming under a cloud of suspicion for their legitimate religious and political activities," they wrote. When asked about the letter and questions raised, an FBI spokesman said: "We have received the letter and the FBI director will be available to discuss these issues at his scheduled hearing next week."
COMMENTS
- The anthrax attack created a lot of scrutiny on a program the military has been trying to keep under wraps. We are now learning that Ft. Detrick and Plum Island are not the only locations working with Level IV bioweapons. The deadly viruses and bacteria are traveling between highly populated sites all over the country and are in the hands of private industry. Dr. Ivins was the canary in the mine shaft. He expressed his concerns about the safety of these programs, and was suicided. Anthony Weishar Posted September 10, 2008 6:52 AM
- As a lay observor it strikes me that two things led to the housing market bubble (apologies to Mr. Greenspan): (1) the creation of new types of loans that enabled many people with little or no savings or earnings stream to purchase houses. The subsequent increased demand for housing generated by these loans pushed up house prices prompting still more loan "innovations". (2) Loans that were made outside the traditional financial sector. Banks, savings & loans and credit unions all have some type of Federal regulation. It might not be enough regulation, but these institutions generally want to ask about borrowers' ability to pay. However, during the 1990s and into the 2000s we saw the rise of mortgage brokers who provided loans entirely outside traditional regulatory channels. My neighbor two doors down with ties to a large ethnic community became a mortgage broker out of his home with cars coming and going all hours of the day. How can we prevent future credit meltdowns if we allow fly-by-night operators with no real accountability to arrange loans for borrowers who couldn't qualify for a bank loan? We need to keep this in mind as we see what "reforms" are being proposed for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Kim Bloomquist Posted September 9, 2008 7:56 AM
