[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 159 (2013), Part 10]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 14067-14068]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




 LETTER TO FBI DIRECTOR COMEY ON NEW INSPECTOR GENERAL REPORT FINDING 
    FBI FIELD OFFICES VIOLATED POLICY PROHIBITING NON-INVESTIGATIVE 
                         COOPERATION WITH CAIR

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FRANK R. WOLF

                              of virginia

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 19, 2013

  Mr. WOLF. Mr. Speaker, I submit for the Record the letter I sent to 
FBI Director James Comey today in response to troubling findings in a 
new report by the Justice Department's Inspector General (IG) detailing 
repeated violations by FBI field offices with regard to the bureau's 
longstanding policy prohibiting non-investigative cooperation with the 
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR). I requested this 
investigation two years ago after learning of some of these violations.

                                     House of Representatives,

                               Washington, DC, September 19, 2013.
     Hon. James Comey,
     Director, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Pennsylvania 
         Avenue, NW, Washington, DC.
       Dear Director Comey: Two years ago, I wrote the Justice 
     Department's Office of the Inspector General requesting an 
     investigation into FBI field office compliance with the 
     bureau's 2008 policy prohibiting non-investigative 
     cooperation with the Council on American-Islamic Relations 
     (CAIR). I was deeply concerned to learn of multiple occasions 
     when several FBI field offices had continued to work with 
     CAIR despite the clear policy issued by the bureau.
       This policy was initially implemented after CAIR was 
     identified as an unindicted coconspirator in the trial of the 
     Holy Land Foundation which, according to a Justice Department 
     press release issued May 27, 2009, reported that ``U.S. 
     District Judge Jorge A. Solis sentenced the Holy Land 
     Foundation for Relief and Development (HLF) and five of its 
     leaders following their convictions by a federal jury in 
     November 2008 on charges of providing material support to 
     Hamas, a designated foreign terrorist organization.'' The

[[Page 14068]]

     sentences ranged from 15 years to 65 years in prison. The 
     release continued: ``From its inception, HLF existed to 
     support Hamas. . . . The government's case included testimony 
     that in the early 1990's, Hamas' parent organization, the 
     Muslim Brotherhood, planned to establish a network of 
     organizations in the U.S. to spread a militant Islamist 
     message and raise money for Hamas. . . . The defendants sent 
     HLF-raised funds to Hamas-controlled zakat committees and 
     charitable societies in the West Bank and Gaza.''
       Today, the department's inspector general, Michael 
     Horowitz, released his final report, Review of FBI 
     Interactions with the Council on American-Islamic Relations, 
     which confirms the blatant disregard of bureau policy as well 
     as multiple enacted Commerce-Justice-Science Appropriations 
     reports with respect to interactions by the FBI with CAIR. 
     Despite repeated efforts to communicate the policy to the 
     field, this was undermined by conflicting guidance being 
     inexplicably offered by the bureau's Office of Public Affairs 
     as well as by outright violations from several field offices.
       Specifically, the OIG report found that the former Special 
     Agents-in-Charge (SAC) of the Chicago, Illinois, Los Angeles, 
     California, and New Haven, Connecticut field offices violated 
     the department's policy, despite numerous electronic 
     communications articulating the policy as well as a mandatory 
     meeting held in November 2008 with all SACs and Assistant 
     Directors-in-Charge to communicate the policy in person. 
     There should have been no confusion about this policy given 
     the bureau guidance, Congressional direction and media 
     coverage surrounding this directive.
       Despite this direction, the OIG report makes clear that the 
     leadership of several field offices knowingly ignored or 
     selectively applied the policy to suit their interests. In 
     one case documented in the report, the SAC of the LA field 
     office wrote an e-mail to his staff explicitly noting: 
     ``Please instruct your folks at this time that they are not 
     to abide by the [October 24, 2008, Electronic Communication 
     from the REDACTED], but that their direction in regards to 
     CAIR will come from the LA Field Office front office.'' This 
     is unacceptable and insubordinate behavior from a senior 
     leader of the FBI.
       What concerns me even more is that the OIG only reviewed 
     five instances of reported violations of the policy, which 
     could represent only a fraction of the overall number of 
     violations that may have taken place at other field offices. 
     The findings in the report suggest that the FBI may have a 
     systemic problem with the violation of this important policy 
     and does not reflect well on the bureau's compliance with 
     other policies.
       This documented failure to abide by FBI direction is 
     intolerable. I ask that you immediately take action to ensure 
     such a failure in policy coordination and management is not 
     repeated, and advise me what specific actions you are taking 
     to ensure FBI policy with regard to interactions with CAIR is 
     clear, unambiguous, and complied with by all FBI components.
       Additionally, I am asking you to immediately remove any FBI 
     agents or employees that knowingly violated this policy or 
     offered conflicting guidance that undermined the policy--
     particularly the SACs of the Chicago, Philadelphia and New 
     Haven Field Offices who approved and carried out actions that 
     directly contravened established policy and law--and report 
     to the Congress on what disciplinary actions are being taken. 
     I would expect discipline to include, but not be limited to, 
     separation from the FBI.
       Please provide me with an update on both of these actions, 
     including any disciplinary actions taken, by no later than 
     September 30.
       Best wishes.
           Sincerely,

                                                Frank R. Wolf,

                               Chairman, Subcommittee on Commerce,
                           Justice, Science, and Related Agencies.