FBI Intelligence Reform Since September 11, 2001: Issues and Options for Congress
Abstract
The Intelligence Community, including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), has been criticized for failing to warn of the attacks of 9/11. In a sweeping indictment of the FBI's intelligence activities relating to counterterrorism and 9/11, the Congressional Joint Inquiry Into the Terrorist Attacks of September 11, 2001, singled out the FBI for failing to focus on the domestic terrorist threat; collect useful intelligence; analyze strategic intelligence; and share intelligence internally and with other members of the Intelligence Community. The Joint Inquiry concluded that the FBI was seriously deficient in identifying, reporting on, and defending against the foreign terrorist threat to the United States. The FBI is responding by attempting to transform itself into an agency that can prevent terrorist acts, rather than react to them as crimes. The major component of this effort is a restructuring and upgrading of its various intelligence support units into a formal and integrated intelligence program, which includes the adoption of new operational practices and the improvement of its information technology. FBI Director Robert S. Mueller, III, has introduced reforms to curb the autonomy of the organization's 56 field offices by consolidating and centralizing FBI Headquarters control over all counterterrorism and counterintelligence cases. He also has established an Executive Assistant Director for Intelligence (EAD-I); an Office of Intelligence to exercise control over the FBI's historically fragmented intelligence elements; and field intelligence groups to collect, analyze, and disseminate intelligence. This report identifies five options for Congress to consider: the creation of a domestic intelligence agency like Great Britain's MI-5, maintaining the status quo, transferring such responsibilities to the Department of Homeland Security or to the Director of Central Intelligence, or creating a national security intelligence service within the FBI.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 04, 2004
- Accession Number
- ADA450085
Entities
People
- Alfred Cumming
- Todd Masse
Organizations
- Library of Congress