The Inspectors General issued a report on this particular case last year.  The newly completed review is a follow-up report examining 10 other cases that started at ICE and were taken over by the FBI as part of an inter-agency agreement for better cooperation that was reached in 2003 by the Departments of Justice and Homeland Security.  The review finds that 7 out of 10 terrorist financing cases suffered from lack of cooperation between the FBI and ICE until the cases were transferred to FBI-controlled Joint Terrorism Task Forces.  The new report is posted at http://grassley.senate.gov.

"It seems obvious that the findings of this report justify concerns about a lack of trust between our two largest federal law enforcement agencies.  They need to work together in order to do everything possible to protect Americans in the war on terror," Grassley said.  "I hate to think how much our law enforcement agencies could be missing because of petty turf battles.  That kind of institutional vanity should have been history on September 12, 2001."

The new report cites FBI delays and refusals on investigative actions that needed court approval.  ICE agents specifically reported that the FBI “impeded or prevented ICE’s requests for search warrants ... or Title III electronic surveillance in four cases.”  According to the report, these problems caused ICE agents to avoid leads and cases that might develop a nexus to terrorism, “in order to continue the case without FBI involvement.”

Grassley said the findings underscore the need for continued vigilance by Congress.  Grassley is a senior member of the Judiciary Committee and conducts active oversight of federal law enforcement agencies, including the FBI and ICE.