May 28, 2002

The national swell of doubt and hostility toward the current FBI administration for mishandling pre-9/11 potential terrorist investigations and, for that matter, toward the Department of Justice, is misdirected.

It is well known and understood that, after being burned by Waco, the Elian Gonzales fiasco and other misadventures, former attorney general Janet Reno was notorious for unduly pulling the reigns on one DOJ agency and carelessly unleashing the power of another.

What should not be overlooked during the current cycle of reactionary fingerpointing is the fact that Janet Reno continuously yanked the chain of the former FBI administration, even to the point of hampering terrorist investigations for fear of being accused of profiling, and she completely shut down terrorist investigations and al-Qaeda wire tap requests in the Fall of 2000.

If anything, it was the remnants of Reno's blind arrogance and denials that obstructed the DOJ and the FBI from doing their jobs against terrorism and many other vital matters of national security that faced the prolific incompetence and power abuses of the Clinton administration.

Daniel B. Jeffs, founder
The Direct Democracy Center