Lawmakers Criticize FBI fror Failing To Keep a Closer Eye on Boston Suspect

[DonViejo]

By Daniel Politi | Posted Sunday, April 21, 2013, at 5:42 PM

The FBI came under fire from members of both parties Sunday as lawmakers questioned whether the bureau mishandled the case involving the deceased Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev. Several lawmakers said that considering Tsarnaev was already on the FBI’s radar, officials should have followed up with him after he traveled to Russia in 2012 for six months, reports the Wall Street Journal. The FBI had interviewed Tsarnaev in 2011 at the request of a foreign government. Bloomberg News points out that Tsarnaev’s application for U.S. citizenship was placed on hold after the interview, “raising questions about whether he could have been identified before carrying out the attack.”

“There are questions that have to be answered,” said Senator Charles Schumer, a New York Democrat, on CNN. “This man was pointed out by a foreign government to be dangerous. He was interviewed by the FBI once. What did they find out? What did they miss? Then he went to Russia and to Chechnya. Why wasn’t he interviewed when he came back?”

Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham was even more direct, saying the FBI messed up the investigation. “The ball was dropped in one of two ways,” Graham said on CNN. The FBI either “missed a lot of things” during the investigation or laws did not allow officials to “follow up in a sound, solid way.”

Full article:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2013/04/21/boston_bombing_lawmakers_question_fbi_handling_of_tamerlan_tsarnaev.html?wpisrc=newsletter_jcr:content

[Tx4obama]

1. Republicans are going to turn this into another 'Benghazi' outrage. n/t

[Boomerproud]

8. I'm surprised it took them more than 2 days.

Lindsey Graham....

[Bad Thoughts]

2. The problem of politicizing anti-terrorism

When you politicize it, the effort to combat terrorism becomes less focused and less successful. Russia used our interrogation process in order to suppress radicalism in its own borders, doing what it could to associate a separatism movement with global terrorism. It created noise for the FBI, making it difficult to distinguish real threats from the people Russia wanted to harass.

[SoCalDem]

3. Are "lawmakers" prepared to beef up the FBI budget for permanent "minders"

whose job it is, to watch "suspicious characters" 24/7?

[steve2470]

4. The FBI is in a classic damned if you do position

If they had arrested him based on flimsy evidence, there would be a huge outcry about denied civil liberties.

They don't arrest him and something may happen. I'm inclined to cut the FBI some slack here.

[Trajan]

5. This is Monday morning quarterbacking of the worst kind ...

Easy to say while hanging out at the country club, sipping cognac and smoking cigars ...

[steve2470]

6. agreed ! nt

[Dawson Leery]

11. +1

[benld74]

7. YA mean Bush's Homeland Security wasn't perfect?

thats NOT what was told and retold befroe Obama took office!

[Ruby the Liberal]

9. I thought his citizenship was placed on hold

because of his assault arrest when he beat up his girlfriend.

Dudes need to get their story straight...

[JI7]

10. i don't get it, from what we know it looks like 9/11 was a much bigger failure