Justice Department Tightens Reins on FBI

Justice Department Tightens Reins on FBI

NewsMax.com Wires
Thursday, July 12, 2001

WASHINGTON - Attorney General John Ashcroft signed an order Wednesday giving the Justice Department's Office of Inspector General automatic jurisdiction over the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

The surprise move is yet another blow for the autonomy of the embattled FBI, though Ashcroft publicly said the shift was made to promote "consistency."

The order takes the primary responsibility for investigating allegations of FBI or DEA misconduct from units in those agencies - called the Office of Professional Responsibility in both - and gives it to the Justice Department.

"This action now gives the Office of Inspector General the same authority to investigate misconduct allegations against employees of the FBI and DEA that the Office of Inspector General has with respect to all other components of the Department of Justice," Ashcroft said in a statement.

He added that the move would promote "consistency in the disposition of such allegations."

Before Wednesday's action, the inspector general's office could take jurisdiction over such allegations only if the attorney general or deputy attorney general specifically ordered it in an individual case.

The Justice Department inspector general's office is already conducting an investigation into what FBI officials did or didn't do in the period leading up to the arrest of FBI spy Robert Hanssen in February.

A department statement, released in March, said Ashcroft had requested the "thorough review" by Inspector General Glenn Fine.

Hanssen pleaded guilty last week to 15 counts of espionage and has agreed to cooperate with investigators as part of a plea bargain. In return, the former FBI counterintelligence specialist will escape the death penalty.

The FBI believes 27-year veteran Hanssen had been spying for Moscow since at least 1985 in exchange for about $1.4 million in assets and cash.

Last month, Ashcroft ordered a separate comprehensive review of the FBI as a whole, including an evaluation from the private sector, as a first step in broadly reforming the bureau.

The review would be overseen by the department's new Strategic Management Council, which was ordered to submit recommendations by Jan. 1.

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