Grassley released a copy of a letter he sent to the committee chairman, Sen. Patrick Leahy, giving his full support to the chairman in seeking her first-hand testimony.
Grassley has received assurances this week from Rowley that she is willing to address general problems with the FBI, including careerism and a culture of fear, in a public hearing of the Judiciary Committee. The Iowa senator said he agrees with Rowley that her testimony should not address specific information related to the Moussaoui case due to concerns about both national security and the trial this fall.
Grassley also said that Rowley's testimony on FBI problems is so important that he will seek a committee subpoena if the FBI refuses to let her testify.
A copy of the Grassley letter follows here.
May 30, 2002
The Honorable Patrick Leahy
Chairman
U.S. Senate Committee on the Judiciary
224 Dirksen Building
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Mr. Chairman:
I am requesting that the Judiciary Committee invite Coleen Rowley, Chief Division Counsel of the FBI's Minneapolis Field Office, to testify at the planned oversight hearing on Thursday, June 6, 2002.
As you well know, Ms. Rowley has done the FBI and the nation a service by taking the rare and courageous step of criticizing problems with the FBI's operations. Her constructive criticism should help reform the FBI, which is essential to prevent future terrorist attacks against the nation ? a job that everyone must agree is most important.
I can think of no better person than Ms. Rowley, a patriotic American and loyal member of the FBI, to provide insights and a critique of the FBI's current status and its planned improvements. Her testimony will assist the Committee conduct its oversight responsibilities, improve the FBI's operations, and help restore public confidence in the FBI.
Ms. Rowley has indicated to my staff that she is willing to testify publicly before the Judiciary Committee on general matters such as the FBI's reorganization and cultural problems in the bureau, including careerism and fear of taking decisive action.
She raised several of these issues in her letter of May 21, 2002 to Director Mueller. Ms. Rowley's testimony before the Committee and the American people can help restore trust and credibility in the FBI by showing that all institutions are accountable and can benefit from constructive criticism.
Ms. Rowley said she cannot and will not testify about any specifics regarding the case of Zacarias Moussaoui, whether it pertains to before or after the attacks of September 11, 2001. I concur with her on this point because of the potential impact on the trial and possible risks to national security ? reasons she cited to my staff. I am confident that the rest of our colleagues on the Committee will honor this position by not questioning Ms. Rowley about this matter.
Of course her testimony is subject to approval from FBI headquarters. I anticipate there will be resistance to this from senior FBI officials. However, if the FBI refuses to let her testify, the public will understandably view that action as an attempt to prevent further embarrassment and criticism. Ms. Rowley has pledged not to discuss the Moussaoui case at all, so worries about national security or the prosecution of Moussaoui are unfounded.
Indeed, Director Mueller himself on Wednesday thanked Ms. Rowley during a news conference and said:
"It is critically important that I hear criticisms of the organization, including criticisms of me, in order to improve the organization, to improve the FBI. Because our focus is on preventing terrorist attacks, more so than in the past, we must be open to new ideas, to criticism from within and from without, and to admitting and learning from our mistakes. And I certainly do not have a monopoly -- a monopoly on the right answers, and so I seek the input from those both within the organization as well as those without the organization."
I believe Director Mueller has his heart in the right place and is working hard to reform the FBI. I intend to hold him to his word, and I ask that you do as well.
If Director Mueller truly believes that "[i]t is critically important" to hear criticism of the FBI and himself "to improve the FBI," then permitting Ms. Rowley to testify would be a perfect example to prove this to Congress and the American people. If Director Mueller truly does want to "seek the input from those both within the organization as well as those without the organization," then he must allow Ms. Rowley to testify publicly before the Judiciary Committee so we, the public and the FBI can benefit from her insights.
In conducting FBI oversight on an issue as important as fighting terrorism and protecting the nation, the Judiciary Committee should hear from the lowliest janitor in the Hoover building if that janitor has something to add about failures before the attacks and how to fix the problems. We must leave no stone unturned.
The FBI may also argue it is only appropriate for senior level officials to testify to Congress, and that is not appropriate for "line agents" or "line attorneys" to testify. This argument would reveal the headquarters-knows-best mentality that Ms. Rowley rightly criticized and that Director Mueller has acknowledged must change. Allowing her to testify would also be consistent with previous practice.
FBI agents have repeatedly testified before Congressional Committees throughout the years. The FBI has allowed agents to testify both when their comments cast the bureau in a positive light and when their comments spotlight problems that need fixing.
Just last summer, four courageous agents ? John Roberts, John Werner, Frank Perry and Patrick Kiernan ? testified before the Judiciary Committee about misconduct, coverups and retaliation at the highest levels of the FBI. I hail these four men as heroes for dutifully investigating wrongdoing at the FBI, even when they knew their professional careers would be damaged.
As far back as July and August of 1995, FBI Special Agents James McGee, John Morrison and R.J. Craig, and Supervisory Special Agents Byron Sage and Gary Noesner testified during hearings on the siege of the Branch Davidians' Compound in Waco, Tx. Their testimony came during joint hearings of the Crime Subcommittee of the House Judiciary Committee and the National Security International Affairs and Criminal Justice Subcommittee of House Government Reform and Oversight Committee.
On September 29, 1997, two "line agents" testified before the Judiciary Administrative Oversight and the Courts Subcommittee during a review of the FBI Crime Lab. Special Agent William Tobin, a chief metallurgist at the FBI, and Dr. Frederic Whitehurst, a Supervisory Special Agent assigned to the crime lab, both testified about misconduct and other problems at the lab.
On May 8, 1998, Special Agent John Barrett of the Washington Field Office testified before the House Committee on Government Reform's Subcommittee on the District of Columbia regarding efforts to counter drug trafficking and related violence in the District.
On February 25, 2000, Supervisory Special Agent Michael L. Smith testified about methamphetamine trafficking in Arkansas and law enforcement response before the House Judiciary Crime Subcommittee.
The FBI also has allowed agents to testify when the agents' comments have advanced the bureau's interests. For example, Special Agents Daniel Wehr, Kevin Sheridan and Roberta N. Parker testified on September 22, 1999 before the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee regarding the Justice Department's handling of the Yah Lin "Charlie" Trie case. This case was part of the investigation into allegations of campaign finance laws during President Clinton's 1996 re-election campaign.
If the FBI or Justice Department nevertheless insist on refusing to let Ms. Rowley testify, I will do everything in my power to oppose that decision. This will include seeking a subpoena of the Committee for Ms. Rowley, even though she is a willing witness. This subpoena would be intended to overrule a decision of the FBI not to let her testify.
I know you take our oversight responsibility over the FBI very seriously, as I do. You also know as well as I that agencies often resist oversight for the wrong reasons. This is a time, however, to aggressively pursue responsible oversight. The terrorist attacks last year require Congress to be ever more vigilant in its oversight, especially to prod important agencies like the FBI to operate better. And that means the Judiciary Committee and the American public should hear from Ms. Rowley. Whether the Committee succeeds in getting Ms. Rowley to testify is a test of how serious Congress takes its oversight responsibilities.
I look forward to your response as soon as possible. Again, I want to emphasize that I will do all I can to help you persuade the FBI to allow Ms. Rowley to testify publicly before the Committee.
Sincerely,
Chuck Grassley
Ranking Member
Subcommittee on Crime and Drugs
cc: Honorable Robert Mueller
Director
Federal Bureau of Investigation