WASHINGTON — Sens. Chuck Grassley and Kit Bond are asking the Attorney General to respond to a series of questions about the security screening of Nada Nadim Prouty, who fraudulently obtained U.S. citizenship and then held sensitive jobs at the FBI and CIA. They also asked for an assessment of possible damage done by Prouty to U.S. intelligence interests.
The senators asked their questions in a letter sent today. The text is below. Grassley is a senior member of the Senate Judiciary Committee and longtime FBI watchdog. Bond is the Ranking Member of the Senate Intelligence Committee.
November 14, 2007
The Honorable Michael B. Mukasey
Attorney General
Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20535
Dear Attorney General Mukasey:
Recent news reports about the guilty plea of former FBI and CIA agent Nada Nadim Prouty are extremely troubling and raise a host of questions that need to be answered promptly and thoroughly.
According to the public reports and the plea agreement, Prouty overstayed her student visa and then obtained U.S. citizenship through a fraudulent marriage. Despite these crimes, Prouty somehow managed to obtain employment as an FBI agent, passing what is supposed to be a rigorous background investigation and polygraph exam. She then gained unauthorized access to case information in the FBI computer system about investigations of Hezbollah and queried references to herself and her relatives. Prouty is reportedly the sister-in-law of Hezbollah fundraiser and fugitive Talal Khalil Chahine.
Please provide detailed written answers to the following questions:
1. Did the FBI's employment screening background investigation uncover the fact that Prouty had overstayed her student visa? If not, why not? If so, why was she nevertheless offered employment as a special agent?
2. Did the FBI's employment screening background investigation uncover the fact that Prouty engaged in a sham marriage in order to obtain citizenship? If not, why not? According to press reports, she never lived with her spouse. Please explain how a basic background investigation would fail to uncover such an important red flag regarding Prouty's immigration status.
3. Did the FBI's employment screening background investigation uncover the fact that Prouty's brother-in-law was a Hezbollah associate and/or fundraiser? If not, why not? If so, why was she nevertheless offered employment as a special agent?
4. According to press reports, Prouty passed a polygraph examination. Are those reports accurate? If so, knowing what we know now, which questions, if any, should have indicated deception if the polygraph were accurately measuring Prouty's truthfulness?
5. According to the plea agreement, Prouty conducted unauthorized queries of the FBI computer system for Hezbollah case information as early as June 2003. Press reports indicate that she also searched for references to herself and her relatives in the FBI computer system.
(a) When did the FBI first detect this suspicious activity?
(b) Does the FBI computer system automatically alert management when an agent queries his or her own name or relatives' names? If not, why not?
(c) Please describe the FBI's procedures for detecting and deterring unauthorized access to information in its computer system. Do the procedures include periodic audits? If so, please describe the frequency, scope, and methodology of the audits.
(d) When and how was Prouty's unauthorized access to case information discovered? Did FBI procedures detect Prouty's unauthorized access in a timely manner? If not, please explain why not?
6. Was Prouty the subject of any internal FBI investigation at any time during her employment? If so, please describe the circumstances and findings of any such investigation
7. When and why did Prouty leave FBI employment?
8. Of the facts outlined above, which if any were known to the FBI at the time Prouty was hired by the CIA? What derogatory information, if any, did the FBI provide to the CIA about Prouty before she was hired there? If the FBI provided no derogatory information to the CIA, please explain why not.
9. What steps have been taken to assess how much damage Prouty may have done to counterterrorism investigations by compromising confidential information? Did Prouty have access to information about the identities of confidential informants and/or cooperating witnesses? If so, is there any indication that those sources were compromised?
10. What steps have been taken to assess the potential impact the deportation of Prouty to Lebanon may have on procedures, sources, and methods of investigation and intelligence gathering against specifically designated terrorist organizations and other militant groups known to operate in Lebanon? What steps have been taken to ensure that classified information, procedures, sources, and/or methods are not disclosed by Prouty upon her deportation to Lebanon? Will Prouty's deportation impact any ongoing intelligence collection ability or impact any ongoing investigation by the FBI?
Please provide written responses to these questions by November 28, 2007.
Sincerely,
Charles E. Grassley
United States Senator
Christopher S. Bond
United States Senator
cc: The Honorable Robert S. Mueller, III
Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Honorable Glenn Fine
Inspector General
U.S. Department of Justice
Chairman Patrick Leahy
Senate Committee on the Judiciary
Ranking Member Arlen Specter
Senate Committee on the Judiciary