Senator Chuck Grassley released the following statement after the Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General issued a second report on the FBI’s use of National Security Letters.
Grassley has conducted extensive oversight of the Agency since the mid-1990s and has exposed serious mistakes that led to botched investigations and risked public safety.
"The United States can't afford for its top law enforcement agency to plead ignorance when it comes to knowing, following or enforcing the law. When used lawfully and properly, National Security Letters can be a valuable tool for the FBI to use in detecting and preventing acts of terrorism. Yet senior FBI management doesn’t seem to understand that there’s a systemic problem here - and there's too much at stake for the FBI to get this wrong. The FBI needs better transparency and accountability, as well as a willingness to acknowledge problems, so that the American public can have confidence that abuses will be exposed, corrected, and prevented in the future.”