New 9/11 report on FBI details pre-attack chronology
After a long delay imposed by a federal court, the Justice Department's inspector general has released an unclassified version of a report [Related PDF] examining the FBI's handling of intelligence information, which details events leading up to the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Inspector General Glenn Fine had completed the report titled "The Handling of Intelligence Information Prior to the September 11 Attacks" in July 2004 at the request of FBI Director Robert Mueller and Congress. Fine provided a classified version to the FBI, the CIA, Congress, the National Security Agency, and the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States. The 9/11 commission relied on the report in reaching its own conclusions.
At the request of members of Congress, the Office of the Inspector General sought to release an unclassified, 371-page version in February. But defense attorneys for accused terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui–who was awaiting trial in the U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Virginia–objected to its release (the classified report details the FBI's mishandling of the Moussaoui investigation). In April, the judge handling the Moussaoui case, Leonie Brinkema, denied the OIG permission to release the report. The OIG then redacted from the report any information requested by Moussaoui's attorneys related to Moussaoui and other matters and this week once again requested that Brinkema release the redacted report–a request she granted.
While many of the OIG's findings have already come to light, the report released today provides unprecedented detail and a specific chronology of events that led to the 9/11 attacks. In addition to information on the Moussaoui investigation, the OIG report describes the FBI's handling of an electronic communication written by an FBI agent in Phoenix (the "Phoenix EC") that raised concerns about efforts by Osama bin Laden to send students to attend American flight schools. The report also examines the handling of intelligence information regarding two of the September 11 hijackers, Nawaf al Hazmi and Khalid al Mihdhar. The report describes five "junctures" before September 11 when the FBI became aware of or could have learned of intelligence related to Hazmi and Mihdhar.
The FBI issued a press release in response to the report [FBI responds to Inspector General's report], pointing to a "transformation" within the FBI "aimed at strengthening our ability to predict and prevent acts of terrorism."