NYT: Complaints Signal Tension Between F.B.I. and Congress

[DeepModem Mom]

Complaints Signal Tension Between F.B.I. and Congress
By ERIC LICHTBLAU
Published: August 15, 2005


WASHINGTON, Aug. 14 - Disputes between the Justice Department and some of its Congressional allies over the Federal Bureau of Investigation's performance, leadership vacancies and management issues are spurring tensions at a time when the department is seeking to remake its antiterrorism operations.

Senator Arlen Specter, Republican of Pennsylvania, the influential chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, said in an interview on Friday that he was deeply dissatisfied with the pace of reforms at the F.B.I. and that he hoped the national intelligence director's new role in overseeing its terrorism operations would spur greater accountability at the Justice Department....

***

While many lawmakers have questioned the performance of the F.B.I., (director Robert S. Mueller III) who took over just days before the Sept. 11 attacks, has generally earned high praise from legislators for seeking to expand the bureau's intelligence and antiterrorism capabilities. He has also successfully resisted calls for the creation of a new domestic intelligence service.

...(C)omments from Mr. Specter and other lawmakers in recent weeks could signal a shift in perceptions after recent run-ins between lawmakers and the F.B.I.

Among the issues that have divided them are the failure of the bureau's $170 million software overhaul, after repeated assertions by Mr. Mueller that it was on track, as well as F.B.I. turf battles with immigration agents, questions about the training and experience of bureau counterterrorism supervisors, and complaints from lawmakers who learned that Mr. Mueller had not been writing or reviewing written Congressional responses that bore his name....


http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/15/politics/15justice.html?oref=login

[54anickel]

1. If I was a tinfoilhatter, I'd say it sounds like they are setting up Dems

to blame for the failure of the FBI in the event of an attack. It does also raise the issue of the questionable nominees for the positions way at the end of the article.

What's this new domestic intelligence service that Mueller's been resisting?