The Inspectors General of the Department of Justice, the Intelligence Community, the Central Intelligence Agency and the Department of Homeland Security launched a coordinated and independent review into the government’s handling of intelligence information leading up to the Boston marathon bombings.
Backed by National Intelligence Director James Clapper, the probe will examine the information available to the intelligence and law enforcement agencies prior to the bombing as well as the intelligence shared between and among the agencies.
“We will coordinate our reviews in such a manner as to reduce duplication of effort and to ensure that they do not interfere any ongoing intelligence activities or criminal investigations and prosecutions related to the Boston marathon bombings,” the groups said in a joint statement today.
During a press conference at the White House earlier in the day, President Barack Obama said the administration would be conducting a review of intelligence sharing policies to see if anything should be done differently to prevent similar attacks in the future.
“We want to review every step that was taken,” said Obama. “We want to leave no stone unturned. We want to see, is there, in fact, additional protocols and procedures that could be put in place that would further improve and enhance our ability to detect a potential attack?”
Some Republican lawmakers have criticized the administration, intelligence and law enforcement agencies, particularly the FBI, for not doing enough when Russian officials initially asked them to investigate bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev.
Meanwhile, the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee Chairman Tom Carper (D-Del.) and ranking member Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) announced they planned to hold a hearing on the Department of Homeland Security’s response to the attacks.
“Once the committee has had an opportunity to perform a thorough analysis of the information requested, we will make a final determination on the appropriate next steps in our ongoing oversight but we fully expect the committee to hold hearings on this terrorist attack in order to better understand what the federal government did well and what lessons can be learned from the efforts to prevent and respond to this attack,” the senators said in a joint statement.
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) has called for appointing a joint select congressional committee to look at how all of the law enforcement and intelligence agencies responded to the attack.
He also criticized the Obama administration for “letting its guard down” during a recent appearance on Fox News.
Asked about Graham’s comments during today’s press conference, the president defended his administration, telling reporters: “Mr. Graham is not right on this issue, although it may have generated some headlines.”
“I think what we saw in Boston was state, local, federal officials, every agency, rallying around a city that had been attacked. Identifying the perpetrators just hours after the scene had been examined,” the president said. “We now have one individual deceased, one in custody. Charges have been brought. I think that all our law enforcement officials performed in exemplary fashion after the bombing had taken place.”
The tete-a-tete continued when Graham quickly responded to the Obama’s statement via Twitter:
With all due respect Mr. President, #Benghazi and #Boston are compelling examples of how our national security systems have deteriorated.
— Lindsey Graham (@GrahamBlog) April 30, 2022
