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http://pittsburghlive.com/x/tribune-review/trib/newssummary/s_359843.htmlFBI called balky in terror fight
By The Associated Press
Wednesday, August 3, 2005
Joseph Webber, the senior Immigration and Customs agent in Houston, was investigating whether a local man was raising money for al-Qaida. He needed a wiretap and went to the FBI, but the bureau did nothing for months.
"Seven hundred communications with a suspected nexus of terrorism were not intercepted," Webber complained.
Now two federal watchdogs are looking into the delay, which lasted at least four months, and whether it shows FBI reluctance to adjust to post-9/11 law enforcement changes emphasizing cooperation.
The inspectors general at the Justice and Homeland Security Departments are investigating this and 10 other cases in which the FBI has taken over investigations begun by the immigration agency. In one of those cases, the FBI delay allowed a suspect to leave the country, according to a congressional investigator who spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak for the record.
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