Senate Lawmakers Open To Extending FBI Director

By Philip Bunnell

FBI Director Robert Mueller appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday to testify about his future at the agency. Earlier this year, President Obama asked Congress to sign off on another two-year term for Mueller, who will reach his ten-year tenure limit this year. 

While some civil liberty groups have expressed concern over the FBI’s increased surveillance during Mueller’s tenure, and others over the established precedent of ten year terms for FBI directors, the committee seemed warm to another two years for Mueller.

Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) said that he was “pleased that Republicans and Democrats have expressed support” for an extension. Al Franken (D-Minn.) raised some concerns over FBI surveillance, but also noted that the President called for Mueller to be extended to a time, “when [Obama] will not be president,” and thanked the Director for his service.

Mueller acknowledged that the surveillance had expanded under his tenure, but that rejected any allegations of abuse. Mueller did say that, initially, the agency did not execute National Security Letters in a constitutional way but quickly remedied that.

The committee’s top Republican, Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), was more reluctant, but still supportive. 

Grassley cited J. Edgar Hoover, the controversial FBI director who headed the agency for over 40 years, as a reason that the extension should be considered carefully. However, Grassley continued, “against this backdrop, I joined as a co-sponsor of… a bill that would extend the term of the current FBI Director for two years.” 

Grassley later warned that although the bill had wide bipartisan support, “I have resisted efforts to simply pass it with minimal deliberation.”

Gibbs: White House May Contact Florida Pastor

White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said today that the administration is discussing the possibility of directly engaging a pastor in Florida over his plan to burn hundreds of copies of the Koran on the ninth anniversary of 9/11.

During his daily briefing on Thursday, Gibbs would not label the proposed event as a hate crime, but channeled remarks made this morning by President Obama, who warned that it could serve as a boon for terrorist recruitment efforts.

“There is no doubt…that this is a hateful act,” Gibbs said. He called the instigator behind the proposal, pastor Terry Jones, a “desperate man seeking the attention of the better part of the world.”

Meanwhile, Pentagon spokesman Geoff Morrell told reporters today that Jones could very well expect to hear from the administration.

“That possibility is currently under discussion,” he said. “That is an active ongoing discussion in which [Defense Secretary Robert Gates] is a participant. I don’t believe they’ve come to any resolution.”

Jones said in an interview with USA Today that he has not yet been contacted by any official in Washington, but that he would listen in the event things changed.

“That would cause us to definitely think it over,” he said. “I don’t think a call from them is something we would ignore.”

Meanwhile, Jones did meet with a handful of FBI agents today about the proposed event. The pastor is expected to make a statement about that meeting later today.

FBI Director Defends Bureau Against Hard Line Of Questions

By Sarah Mamula - Talk Radio News Service 

Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) Director Robert Mueller told the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday the bureau has a broad range of national security and criminal threats it is currently working to alleviate.

Some members of the committee, including Ranking Member Jeff Sessions (D-Ala.), said they were “taken back” by the apparent policy of the FBI to try arrested individuals in federal civilian court instead of transferring them to the military. 

“The presumption needs to be that persons coming from al Qaeda or other terrorist organizations should be held in military custody,” said Sessions. 

Mueller did not elaborate on the bureau’s alleged policy but said “our authority is somewhat limited in that regard.”  

Mueller explained that after the bureau makes arrests, the president has the authority to direct the FBI to turn over individuals to a military commission. When Sessions asked if presidential authority was absolutely necessary for transfers to occur, Mueller said, “That’s a type of question, in my mind, that should be answered by the Office of Legal Council.”

The FBI has also been criticized for its growing reliance to outsource to independent contractors, an issue that Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) showed growing concern over.

“We of course use contractors,” said Mueller. “We, for several years now, have undertaken to reduce our reliance.”

According to Mueller, the FBI is working to decrease the amount of contractors in the information technology sector. Despite wanting to use in-house personnel for duties, Mueller also stressed the necessity of outsiders for their expertise in “discreet” arenas.

Mueller faced gruelling questions from committee members over allegations that FBI agents cheated on an exam that tested their knowledge of the limitations of the bureau’s powers to conduct surveillance and open cases without evidence that a crime has been committed.

Mueller defended his agents but said he nor the Inspector General would know the number of agents involved in the investigation.

“I do believe our workforce absolutely understands what can be investigated in this day and age,” Mueller said.

$305 Million Project Facing Temporary Setbacks, Says FBI Director

By Laurel Brishel Prichard University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service

Setbacks facing the Federal Bureau of Investigation's Sentinel project, a $305 million effort to revamp the bureau's case management system, are temporary, FBI director Robert Mueller told a Senate Appropriations subcommittee Thursday.

According to Mueller, the project is stuck in the second of four phases. The makeover was halted when reviews of the program revealed what the director described as “coding defects.”

The delay of Sentinel made many of the committee members nervous that this program will end up like Trilogy, a separate, failed revamp of the FBI’s case management program that cost around $100 million.

“Are we on the way to [a] boondoggle?” asked Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.), who chairs the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies Subcommittee.

Muller defended the stalled program, and explained that the setback was minor and has enabled the FBI to seize the opportunity to take a more in-depth look at the progress of the program.

The delay will move the project's completion date to 2011.

McCain And Lieberman Propose Legislation For Indefinite Detention

By Laurel Brishel Prichard University of New Mexico/ Talk Radio News Service

Legislation to hold “high value detainees” for a indefinite amount of time was introduced Thursday by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-Conn.).

“This legislation seeks to ensure that the mistakes made during the apprehension of the Christmas Day bomber, such as reading him his Miranda warning, will never happen again and put Americans’ security at risk,” said McCain, referencing the attempted bombing aboard a commercial aircraft by a young Nigerian man last December.

The introduction of the bill has sparked controversy among numerous human rights organizations, with many claiming that the legislation undermines the constitution.

“Our criminal justice system has proved repeatedly that it is capable of obtaining reliable intelligence from terrorism suspects, while that has not always been the case when we throw detainees into secret detentions and discard all the rules,” said Christopher Anders, the American Civil Liberties Union's Senior Legislative Counsel. “The Constitution is not optional despite the efforts of these senators to render it so.”

If enacted, the bill would ask the president to create a interagency task force to examine the suspect and decide within 48 hours if they are ‘unprivileged.' If the suspect is found to be ‘unprivileged,’ they would be held regardless of whether or not criminal charges are filed.

The task force would meet with the Secretary of Defense, Attorney General and the directors of the FBI and CIA to make final determinations as to the detainees' status.

“Under these circumstances, actionable intelligence must be our highest priority and criminal prosecution must be secondary,” according to a statement released by McCain.