Letter to Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigations Robert S. Mueller

November 18, 2003

The Honorable Robert S. Mueller
Federal Bureau of Investigation
935 Pennsylvania Ave., NW
Washington, DC 20535

Dear Director Mueller:

The purpose of this letter is to inquire and express serious concern about the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) role in an incident in which a suspected terrorist under investigation was permitted to become a naturalized U.S. citizen. This is all the more alarming because the suspected terrorist obtained citizenship after the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.

The facts outlined in this letter are based on an Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS) report entitled, "Review of the Circumstances Surrounding the Naturalization of an Alien Known to be an Associate of a Terrorist Organization: Report Number 03-02." This report was provided to me by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) after I requested it in writing on June 20, 2003.

The most immediate concern - even before determining how and why this happened and who is responsible - is locating this suspected terrorist and ensuring he does not pose an imminent threat to national security or public safety. The report does not address that issue. I trust that the FBI is working with DHS to locate this suspected terrorist and ensure he does not pose an immediate danger. I would appreciate your assurance on this point as soon as possible.

The primary responsibility for this debacle resides with the INS. The INS discovered in November of 2002 that the suspected terrorist had recently obtained citizenship, which was before the INS was absorbed into the DHS. However, this did occur on your watch at the FBI and after you had commenced the reorganization of the FBI to prevent terrorism. This is a serious misstep that could call into question whether your reforms are taking root.

In short, the FBI did not perform a thorough enough name check on the applicant to detect the "several terrorist related warnings posted in Federal lookout systems." Even more alarming, the report found that the FBI has used this deficient procedure on all INS name checks for over 17 years. This raises the terrifying prospect that the government was unaware of terrorist links for thousands of successful citizenship applicants who are now living in the United States.

The American public expected the government to fulfill the promises made by yourself and other officials after 9-11, including increasing security of our borders and immigration procedures, making national security an overriding priority, and doing everything that is necessary to stop terrorists before they can strike.

I am sure you are just as disappointed and surprised as I am about the details of this incident. I hope, and intend to ensure, that the FBI has taken and is taking the appropriate steps to ensure this mishap does not happen again, to hold the responsible officials accountable, and to review past incidents to determine if other suspected terrorists took advantage of similar mistakes.

This suspected terrorist obtained citizenship while under federal investigation because:
Several INS officials committed errors and used poor judgment;
The INS and FBI did not use the correct watch lists and did not use watch lists in the right manner; and
The INS lacked consistent and uniform training and procedures.

I am also writing a letter to DHS Secretary Tom Ridge to inquire about the INS's primary role in this mishap and what he is doing in response. The FBI's role also deserves scrutiny to ensure the problem is fixed and to reassure the public that suspected terrorists are not roaming the country with citizenship cards as they plot their next attack.

According to the report, the FBI conducts name checks on all persons applying for citizenship in the initial phase of the application process. In this instance, the initial name check showed a "possible lookout match needing further research..." The INS put an automatic hold on the application pending a response from the FBI, but when none came after 60 days, the INS presumed an "all clear" and proceeded with the application, per its procedures at the time.

The INS investigation conducted to produce the report tried to determine if the FBI told the INS that the applicant was "all clear," had a problem, or gave no answer. The INS was "unable to obtain this information because the FBI does not maintain a tracking system that could confirm the result of the original search." When the FBI database was checked again during the course of the investigation, "an expanded search format yielded a positive match result" of terrorist links for the applicant. Most alarming of all, the report notes that the FBI has used initial name check method that missed the terrorist links for 17 years.

Director Mueller, I appreciate the enormity and difficulty of your job in combating terrorism. You are working hard to lead the FBI, and I believe you can overcome this slip along the way. I hope this incident is an isolated one and is not representative of the FBI's efforts to reform to prevent terrorist attacks. At the same time, however, it occurred after you commenced reorganization and declared that the FBI must change.

So the public can be reassured the FBI and other agencies are doing their best to prevent terrorists from becoming citizens and infiltrating society, I ask that you provide a written, detailed accounting by December 20, 2003, of what steps the FBI has taken to remedy this problem; what, if any, action was taken against FBI employees involved in the incident or responsible for the broader flaws that contributed to the incident; what steps, if any, the FBI is taking to review previous citizenship applicants for terrorist links in light of the flawed name check search method of the last 17 years. Also, the report mentions "a member" of the Joint Terrorism Task Force who sent the memo to the FBI urging officials there to ask the INS to deny the application of the suspected terrorist. Please state whether that person was an FBI agent and whether the agent took the appropriate action in this situation. As requested above, I would appreciate your assurance as soon as possible that the FBI or other agencies know this suspected terrorist's location and that he does not pose an immediate threat to public safety or national security. I thank you in advance for your cooperation.

Sincerely,

Charles E. Grassley
United States Senator