FBI Dinged On Counterterrorism
I have to say, it seems a bit mean spirited on the part of OIG to criticize the FBI's performance in Counterterrorism cases. I mean, the OIG audit covers the period from October, 2012, to September, 2018. Think of how many important national elections that time period covered! A Bureau has to prioritize, and the FBI's Dem masters obviously prioritized election "meddling" over Counterterrorism. Whose fault was that?
Audit of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation’s Efforts to Identify
through Counterterrorism Assessments
(U) Objectives
(U) The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) conducted
an audit of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI)
efforts to identify homegrown violent extremists (HVE)
through counterterrorism assessments. Our objectives
were to review the FBI's HVE-related casework and
resource management and evaluate its policies and
processes to assess HVE threats from October 2012
through September 2018.
(U) Results in Brief
(U) HVEs are the highest priority for the FBI's
Counterterrorism Division (CTD) because the FBI
believes HVEs currently present the greatest terrorist
threat to the United States. Since September 11, 2001,
HVEs have carried out over 20 attacks in the
United States, some of which occurred after the FBI
closed a counterterrorism investigation or assessment
on the individual. Following these attacks, the FBI
conducted reviews and determined there were
weaknesses in its HVE assessment processes.
However, we found that the FBI has not taken sufficient
action to address these weaknesses. Additionally, in
2017, the FBI conducted an enterprise-wide review and
identified potential terrorist threats that may not have
been adequately assessed during calendar years (CY)
2014 through 2016, which amounted to 6 percent of
the total assessments reviewed. We found that the FBI
did not take adequate action on nearly 40 percent of
these assessments for 18 months. After we inquired
about the lack of action, the FBI reexamined these
assessments and, in some instances, the reexamination
resulted in the opening of an investigation. We further
found that the FBI has experienced a substantial influx
of reports of suspicious incidents, but has not developed
comprehensive strategies for addressing the challenges
associated with the potential cross-over between
terrorist threats and other categories of threats, for
example, those posed by individuals with mental health
issues and criminal threats to life.