Jan 22, 2007 3:03 pm US/Eastern
Probe Faults FBI In Foley Investigation
Justice Department Report Says Bureau Mishandled Receipt Of Ex-Congressman's Improper E-mails
WASHINGTON (CBS News) ―
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The Mark Foley e-mails were sent to the FBI in July 2006 by Citizens for Responsibility in Ethics (CREW); the scandal broke in September 2006.
AP
The Justice Department's Inspector General's internal investigation into how the FBI's Washington field office handled e-mails sent to pages by former Rep. Mark Foley has concluded that the agency handled the events poorly.
The Foley e-mails were sent to the FBI in July 2006 by Citizens for Responsibility in Ethics (CREW); the scandal broke in September 2006.
However, the investigation concludes that the FBI supervisors did not engage in "misconduct."
The report reveals that the e-mails "provided enough troubling indications" that the FBI supervisor who reviewed them should have, at a minimum, interviewed the former page. If the agents didn't think such an interview was warranted, they should have gone to House authorities in charge of the page program about concerns that were expressed. Finally, the FBI should have notified CREW that the FBI decided not to investigate since CREW thought an investigation was already under way.
After Foley resigned from office in September, the Office of the Inspector General also concluded that the FBI made "inaccurate statements to the media" about the e-mails forward by CREW. The FBI claimed the e-mails were heavily redacted, and thus useless to investigators. But in fact, the e-mails were not heavily redacted, "and the evidence showed that the FBI did not seek additional information from CREW."
The Justice Department was faulted for disseminating inaccuracies to the news media as well.
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