Justice Dept. to Probe Own Security
NewsMax.com Wires
March 12, 2001
WASHINGTON -- Attorney General John Ashcroft said Sunday the Justice Department's inspector general will conduct a probe of its security measures in wake of an FBI's agents arrest on espionage charges. The investigation will be separate from a review launched by William Webster, a former CIA and FBI director.
Robert Hanssen has been charged with supplying the Russians with U.S. security secrets over a 15-year period while he was an FBI employee. He was arrested last month near his home in suburban Virginia.
Ashcroft had ordered the Webster investigation and said Sunday he does not believe the inspector general's investigation will duplicate or interfere with Webster's efforts.
"I requested the Inspector General to do this investigation with a view toward cooperating where appropriate, going beyond or otherwise following avenues that might not otherwise be determined, productive avenues for examination by Judge Webster," Ashcroft said. "I feel that the inspector general, also with his independence and awareness, would have something to contribute. ... I think it's going to take a very coordinated, substantial effort by all to try and remedy this."
When asked what he thought about the psychological testing of FBI agents, Ashcroft skirted the question and said that several others step had already been taken to protect national security.
"First, we've expanded the use of polygraph. And secondly, we've in some way expanded our ability to trace utilization of the data bases through the computer," he said. "We need to be able to know if specific information is being accessed by individuals who don't have a reason to use that information."
Ashcroft refused to discuss the specifics of the Hanssen case or whether Hanssen was being offered a deal in exchange for the government not seeking the death penalty.
Copyright 2001 by United Press International.
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