Hearing of the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee Subject: Federal Bureau of Investigation of Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Request

Interview

Hearing of the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee Subject: Federal Bureau of Investigation of Fiscal Year 2009 Budget Request

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REP. ROBERT ADERHOLT (R-AL): Thank you, Mr. Chairman.

Thank you, Mr. Director, for being here. Going back to the technology aspect that you addressed in your testimony, you discuss the aspect about working with the local law enforcement officers, and in some of these cases that this new technology would be to provide forensic, analytic and operational technologies. In what sense do you -- when you say with the local law enforcement officers, in what sense do y'all work with those, and how do you make a priority for the cases on the local level?

MR. MUELLER: Well, if you look at -- we have 14 regional computer forensics laboratories around the country, in which they are laboratories in which federal, state and local authorities all work together to prioritize the computer forensics in a particular area, and they have been tremendously successful.

Again, if you're looking at the narrow range of cyber issues, where we don't have the regional computer forensics laboratories our cyber agents spend a great deal of time with state and local law enforcement both on training, exchanging the new methods of doing the forensics and helping each other out.

It is -- I think most state and local law enforcement agencies would tell you that keeping up with the change in technology is tremendously difficult for a smaller jurisdiction. We do what we can to assist. As I say, the regional forensics -- regional computer forensics laboratories have been tremendously successful throughout the country, and I think if you talk to any state and local law enforcement entity that participates in those laboratories, they would be very positive in their views. And as I said, where we don't have those, we look to help as we can on a particular issue.

As I've indicated to the chairman in the past, I am a great believer in working on task forces, that we leverage our capabilities by sitting shoulder to shoulder with state and local law enforcement and with other agencies. And my own belief is that to the extent that that mode of addressing the threats in our communities or indeed overseas can be funded across the board, it is beneficial to the American public, not just to the FBI.

REP. ADERHOLT: You indicated in your testimony that you plan to open a new legal attache office in Algiers, Algeria, to address a significant number of counterterrorism cases and leads in that region. Of course, currently Algiers is covered by the attache in Morocco. Will the Algiers now have its own office or will responsibility for countries such as Tanzania and Niger shift into this office as well?

MR. MUELLER: I'm not certain what other countries would be covered by the office that we put in Algiers. But over the last year, year and a half, the capabilities of al Qaeda in the Maghreb after it has become associated with al Qaeda have been substantial. And we have great concern that as the capabilities of al Qaeda in the Maghreb have grown, so too has the possibility of individuals with joint passports, say, with France and Algeria would find their way into Europe and then be an e-ticket away from JFK or an airport here in the United States because it's a visa waiver country, and so the first chance you get to see the individual coming in is at the airport.

We have developed a good working relationship with our counterparts in Algeria, and this is the next step in building of that relationship to address this new phenomenon, the new threats that have come out of the Maghreb.

REP. ADERHOLT: So the bombings and the al Qaeda connection has definitely been a factor in that.

MR. MUELLER: Yes.

REP. ADERHOLT: That's all I have, Mr. Chairman. Thank you.

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