FBI knew earlier of Boston bombing suspect

politico ^ | june 15, 2013 | JOSH GERSTEIN

[lowbridge]

Deceased Boston Marathon bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev came to the attention of the FBI on at least two occasions prior to a Russian government warning in March 2011 that said he appeared to be radicalizing, FBI Director Robert Mueller said in Congressional testimony this week.

The earlier references have led some lawmakers to question whether the FBI acted too quickly in closing an assessment of Tsarnaev's potential ties to terrorism done in response to the Russian request.

In a little-noticed exchange before the House Judiciary Committee Thursday, Mueller acknowledged that the Russian alert was not the first time the elder Tsarnaev brother crossed the FBI's radar.

"His name had come up in two other cases," Mueller said in response to questions from Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa). "Those two other cases, the individuals had their cases closed. So, he was one or two person [sic] away."

When King asked Mueller if it was reasonable to say that the Russian letter "refocused" the FBI on Tsarnaev, Mueller replied, "Absolutely."

Mueller did not elaborate on the nature of the prior investigations where Tsarnaev's name had arisen. However, an FBI official told POLITICO they were not related to terrorism. The official, who asked not to be named, also said the agent who conducted an "assessment" of Tsarnaev in response to the Russian warning in 2011 found the previous references and was aware of them.

Former House Homeland Security Chairman Peter King (R-N.Y.) said he believes the prior mentions of Tsarnaev in FBI files should have resulted in greater scrutiny of the Russian-born U.S. resident who allegedly went on to carry out the April 15, 2013 bombing that killed three and an ensuing crime spree that left a police officer dead.

[dirtboy]

But ... but ... but they neeeed all this info on Americans to stop terrorist attacks.

Not.

[Diogenesis]

"When the law no longer protects you from the corrupt,
but protects the corrupt from you -
you know your nation is doomed."
-Ayn Rand

"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.
We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream.
It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same,
or one day we will spend our sunset years telling our children
and our children's children what it was once like in the United States where men were free."
President Ronald Reagan

"Permit me to hint, whether it would be wise and seasonable
to provide a strong check to the admission of Foreigners into the administration of our national Government;
and to declare expressly that the Commander in Chief of the American Army
shall not be given to nor devolve on, any but a natural born Citizen.”
July 25th, 1787, John Jay to George Washington, Presiding Officer of the Constitutional Convention

"Those who cannot remember the past
are condemned to repeat it"
George Santayana

[bandleader]

Earth To Robert Mueller:”We Don’t Care If You Dress Up Like A Woman As Long As You Do Your Job”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[fireman15]

But I just watched Dick Cheynee on FOX and he said that this program could have prevented the September 11 attacks.

And all we have to do to get this additional safety.. is to give up our 4th amendment rights on every form of electronic communications and what is stored on our hard drives. But don't worry even though everything you do will be recorded forever in a massive database it will never be used against you by a corrupt administration.

[Grampa Dave]

[norwaypinesavage]

"Mueller suggested that there simply wasn't enough of a legal basis to do anything else at that juncture. "At that point in time, I do not know that there was much else that could be done within the statutes, within the Constitution, to further investigate him"

Peter King said local police could have visited Tsarnaev's mosque, for example, something he said FBI guidelines would not have permitted. "They never went to the mosque, never went to the imam."

If the IRS can legally go to churches, just to find out if they "may" be saying something political, the FBI can certainly go to Mosques to find out if they are preaching terror. The issue then is Obama policies, not law.

[Chgogal]

I am so sick and tired of these elitists telling us that they have to frisk us, x-ray our shoes and us, listen to our conversations, read our email, take pictures of our mail, track AND store our calls, emails, locations and THEN still not prevent Boston. Then they berate us when we become irate at their incompetent fascism.

But the Feds have absolutely no problem targeting Americans who describe(d) their associations with words such as “Patriots” and “Constitution”. No Cheney, we don't trust YOUR big government.

[PA-RIVER]

A proud moment for Islam and Americas first Islamic president.

FUBO to the Kenyan Raghead at 1600 Pennsy.

[Sacajaweau]

I still believe this was a sting operation gone bad....

Best guess is that we used the same tactic before and these kids took up the torch.

[PA-RIVER]

Lets import some young men from Islamic countries that hate us, hate Christians, Jews, and freedom .

What could go wrong? Lets get back to Global Warming.

[ken in texas]

I still believe this was a sting operation gone bad....

We'll probably never know. I would imagine that when running stings the temptation is to keep it going so you can find the next link in the chain instead of settling for the people you can get now.

[Chgogal]

Some? How about hundreds of thousands!!!!

http://shariaunveiled.wordpress.com/2013/06/12/massive-influx-of-islamic-immigration-into-u-s-projected-as-obama-considers-syrian-refugees/

But as long as NSA and the IRS are tracking us instead of them, all will be fine.