FBI agent blows whistle on Moussaoui probe

'I had to do what I believed was right'

Zacarias Moussaoui

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- An FBI agent in Minneapolis wrote to Director Robert Mueller this week complaining about the way headquarters handled information on the investigation of suspected terrorist Zacarias Moussaoui and other terror probes, CNN has learned.

The approximately 12-page letter, written by Colleen Rowley, chief counsel of the Minneapolis FBI Field Division, also went to key members of Congress, according to congressional sources.

In response, FBI Director Robert Mueller late Thursday announced an investigation by the Justice Department inspector general into what went wrong.

Moussaoui, the alleged 20th hijacker in the September 11 attacks, faces six conspiracy charges, including to commit an act of terrorism, to pirate and destroy aircraft, to use weapons of mass destruction, to destroy property and to murder Americans.

Rowley told CNN she wrote the letter solely because she felt compelled to express her own views. She said she did not write the letter at anyone's request. Neither did she claim to represent the official views of the Minneapolis Field Division, she said.

"I had to do what I believed was right," she told CNN.

Congressional sources said Rowley wrote the letter to Mueller Tuesday and sent copies to Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Alabama, Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-California, and to the special Joint Intelligence Committee investigating why intelligence and law enforcement agencies did not uncover plans for the attacks.

One senator who read the letter said, "It was devastating. She takes issue point by point with the [FBI] director on how he has characterized [how] the FBI headquarters handled information from the Minneapolis field office."

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In a statement, Mueller confirmed he received the letter and said he promptly sent it to the Justice Department.

"I immediately referred this matter out of the FBI to the inspector general for investigation," Mueller said. "I respect that process and all the independence and protections it affords."

Mueller said he would not comment on the specifics of the letter, but he clearly agreed with some criticisms of the FBI it apparently contained. As part of the statement, he indicated changes may be in store at the FBI.

"There is no room after the attacks for the types of problems and attitudes that could inhibit our efforts," Mueller said. "We can leave nothing undiscovered and unexamined as we redefine our priorities and operations."

Congressional sources familiar with the letter said Rowley clearly intended to be a whistleblower. But another senator said it is unclear whether she would be protected by whistleblower laws.

One congressional source said the letter detailed how the FBI in Washington ignored and hindered attempts by the Minneapolis office to flag information about questionable activity.

Moussaoui was arrested in Minnesota on immigration charges a month before the attacks after he aroused suspicion by trying to buy time on a jumbo jet flight simulator at a flight school.

After he was arrested, FBI agents there asked permission from headquarters to request a warrant to search his computer, FBI sources said.

Headquarters responded that there was not enough evidence to ask for the warrant, according to the source.

A separate congressional source said Rowley made clear that the FBI headquarters "was misrepresenting what Minneapolis was telling them."

Rowley refused to discuss the substance of the letter or her complaints with FBI management. She also refused to comment on whether the FBI or lawmakers have summoned her to Washington.

One veteran FBI agent and friend of Rowley's expressed long-standing admiration for her intelligence and independence. "She says what she thinks. I really admire her spunk," the FBI agent told CNN.

Another FBI source said Rowley is known for speaking her mind, but suggested this most recent move might not be "career-enhancing."

Rowley's letter and the congressional reaction appeared to strike a nerve at the Justice Department as well as at the FBI.

One senior Justice Department official stressed the department is now better able to seek an eavesdropping warrant such as the one the Minneapolis office wanted under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act, or FISA.

"The Patriot Act broke down some of the walls that made information-sharing difficult," the official said. "It enhanced the department's ability to seek a FISA warrant when the collection of foreign intelligence is 'a significant purpose' of the FISA search or surveillance, rather than the purpose."

Another federal law enforcement official who asked not to be identified vented his anger not at Rowley or the FBI, but at the lawmakers who leaked portions of Rowley's letter.

"We were shocked and disappointed that congressional committees showed reckless disregard in leaking her classified letter," the official said.