@CBSNews: FBI now acknowledges they interviewed Tsarnaev 2 years ago at the request of

[Hissyspit]

@CBSNews: FBI now acknowledges they interviewed Tsarnaev 2 years ago at the request of a foreign country about possible extremist ties

@CBSNews: They maintain that they did not find any derogatory information about him and closed the file. FBI expected to issue a statement shortly

[gateley]

1. Uh oh. When did he go to Chechnya again? That appears

to be what really turned him in this direction.

[notadmblnd]

7. I read earlier that it was July 2012

nt

[gateley]

14. I heard on the radio today that Chechnya's "biggest export" is training for

radical extremists -- ties to Al Q. If that's correct, maybe they check out everyone who travels there.

No mention on TV that I've caught, yet. I'm very interested to hear the FBI statement on this.

[notadmblnd]

24. They may have trained the older one

I don't think this was an AQ operation though.

[gateley]

31. Agree, but he may have been influenced by radical muslim friends, and brought

his new ideology back to the US. It's really starting to sound like that trip "home" was the turning point for him.

I just mentioned Al Q because it was mentioned in the radio piece.

[ZRT2209]

2. yikes. I guess they decided not to follow up.

[MrSlayer]

3. Hoo boy.

Cue the "Obama let this guy go and is thereby responsible" meme.

It was coming anyway, this will just add fuel to the fire.

[MrSlayer]

10. I know. That isn't going to matter.

Nothing logical matters to the RWNJs.

[Fumesucker]

11. But that's not the way the Republicans are going to play it

It's all Obama's fault in their eyes, count on it.

[gateley]

16. I hold the agencies under W responsible who failed to connect the

warning signs that resulted in 9/11. So in the end, I hold W responsible. The POTUS always gets stuck holding the bag, and that's probably appropriate (although I hate when it happens to a Democrat).

[Mutiny In Heaven]

20. Little bit different to the 9/11 security briefings

Unless one adopts the belief that the President knows of every single person the FBI interviews, which would be difficult to the point that it would essentially be the only thing he had time to do on the job.

[gateley]

22. Good points. But still, the POTUS is ultimately responsible, fairly or not.

[michigandem58]

21. Yeah, the President is ultimately responsible for the FBI.

They belong to the Justice Department.

[BainsBane]

17. Benghazi all over again

I can hear it now.

[robinlynne]

19. oh lord no.

[geek tragedy]

4. Coming to a three-ring circus on Capitol Hill near you.

Someone clearly dropped the ball on this one.

[Fumesucker]

8. We're going to need a bigger clown car n/t

[BootinUp]

9. Sounds like a half-assed investigation

Going to be hard to polish this turd.

[arcane1]

15. It's possible that there was no information to find.

[LisaL]

29. How is that possible?

[arcane1]

33. Lots of possibilities. He may have done nothing wrong as of 2 years ago

Or, at least, did not have any evidence of wrongdoing

[virgogal]

6. Things are getting curiouser and curiouser.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

12. Someone's head is going to roll.

Big mistake here by the FBI. Huge, actually.

[enough]

13. That is consistent with what his mother said on RT. (nt)

[Enrique]

18. this tragedy just became an even bigger tragedy

this means that a reasonable response will be out of the question, because the GOP has a new weapon.

[TwilightGardener]

23. Were they still watching him, though? They should have been.

I understand if they don't have evidence to take further action, but once under suspicion, they should have kept an eye on his communications, etc. Isn't this the whole point of FISA?

[ecstatic]

25. we can't have it both ways though

We say we want suspects treated fairly and released if there's no evidence to continue monitoring them. I agree that this news, if true, will anger people.

[TwilightGardener]

32. I'm thinking the older guy was in communication with extremists in Russia--there's reports

he had some sort of "foreign" military training that the FBI knew about. You'd think with all the terror trouble in Chechnya, we'd have been watching these folks pretty closely. If ever a situation called for warrantless wiretapping, that would be it.

[ecstatic]

34. I agree! Maybe they're not using the wiretapping option like we thought they were.

Because as you said, if any case warranted it, this would have been it! Maybe it's a superficial power that is not actually being used.

[LisaL]

30. Sure doesn't look like they were watching him.

[Baitball Blogger]

26. Somebody just lost their job.

[LisaL]

28. I sure hope so.

[Rex]

27. Hmmm...

nt.