Letter shifts heat to FBI By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY By Dennis Cook, AP file FBI Director Robert Mueller is developing a plan to make the bureau one that prevents terrorism. FBI under fire Agent fears for career after criticizing bosses WASHINGTON  Two weeks ago, Congress' nascent probe into whether the U.S. government could have done more to prevent the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks was focused on the FBI, the CIA and the White House. No more. Thanks to a scathing, 13-page letter from a whistleblowing FBI agent in Minneapolis, the probe suddenly has become all about the bureau  and whether bureaucratic bungling might have scotched a real opportunity to expose part of the Sept. 11 hijacking plot beforehand. In the passionate and sometimes angry letter last week to FBI Director Robert Mueller and members of the House and Senate intelligence committees, FBI lawyer and Special Agent Coleen Rowley essentially provided a road map as to how critical intelligence was neglected. She also cast the blame squarely on her bosses at the FBI. The most explosive of Rowley's allegations: She said supervisors in Washington, and one unidentified supervisory agent in particular, not only failed to respond to potentially important information, but also worked against Minnesota agents who sought search warrants against Zaccarias Moussaoui, a flight student who had been arrested on immigration charges in August. The French-Moroccan is now charged with being part of the al-Qaeda conspiracy that carried out the attacks. A Minnesota agent who interviewed Moussaoui last August wrote in his notes that Moussaoui, 33, might be interested in flying a jet into the World Trade Center. Despite Minnesota agents' suspicions about Moussaoui  which later were confirmed by French intelligence reports linking him to al-Qaeda  Rowley said FBI headquarters refused to support a search of Moussaoui's laptop computer. Even after the Sept. 11 attacks had begun, Rowley wrote, "the (supervisory special agent) in question was still attempting to block the search of Moussaoui's computer, characterizing the World Trade Center attacks as a mere coincidence with Minneapolis' prior suspicions." 'Roadblocks' continued Excerpts from the letter sent May 21 by Special Agent Coleen Rowley to FBI Director Robert Mueller: "It is obvious, from my firsthand knowledge of the events and the detailed documentation that exists, that the agents in Minneapolis who were closest to the action and in the best position to gauge the situation locally, did fully appreciate the terrorist risk/danger posed by (Zaccarias) Moussaoui and his possible co-conspirators even prior to September 11th. I think it's very hard for the FBI to offer the '20-20 hindsight' justification for its failure to act!" "Even after the attacks had begun, the (supervisory special agent in Washington) in question was still attempting to block the search of Moussaoui's computer, characterizing the World Trade Center attacks as a mere coincidence with (Minneapolis') prior suspicions about Moussaoui." "The fact is that key FBI (headquarters) personnel whose jobs it was to assist and coordinate with field division agents on terrorism investigations and the obtaining and use of (classified search warrants) continued to almost inexplicably throw up roadblocks and undermine Minneapolis' by-now desperate efforts." "When, in a desperate 11th-hour measure to bypass the FBI (headquarters) roadblock, the Minneapolis division (notified) the CIA's Counter Terrorism Center, FBI (headquarters) personnel actually chastised the Minneapolis agents for making the direct notification without their approval!" "Although I agree that it's very doubtful that the full scope of the (Sept. 11) tragedy could have been prevented, it's at least possible we could have gotten lucky and uncovered one or two more of the terrorists in flight training prior to Sept. 11, just as Moussaoui was discovered, after making contact with his flight instructors." Rowley also said that when frustrated Minnesota agents reached out to the CIA for help, they were criticized by supervisors in Washington. Eventually, the Moussaoui warrant was approved. A search of his laptop did not find any evidence linking him to the Sept. 11 plot, investigators said, but did contain information on crop-dusting and other flight-related matters. "Why would agent(s) deliberately sabotage a case?" Rowley wrote in notes attached to the Mueller letter. "I know I shouldn't be flippant about this, but jokes were actually made that the key FBI (headquarters) personnel had to be spies or moles, like Robert Hanssen (an FBI agent convicted of spying for Moscow), who were actually working for Osama bin Laden to have so undercut Minneapolis' effort." Rowley also says that Mueller and other FBI officials have tried to protect the bureau from embarrassment by playing down the significance of the Minnesota agents' concerns about Moussaoui, and a Phoenix agent's memo last summer calling for an investigation of Middle Eastern students at flight schools across the nation. The review of flight students was never conducted, and Mueller has said that it probably would not have prevented the Sept. 11 attacks. "I don't know how you or anyone at FBI headquarters, no matter how much genius or prescience you may possess, could so blithely make this affirmation without anything to back the opinion up than your stature as FBI director," wrote Rowley, who in her letter acknowledged fearing for her job and asked for federal protection as a whistleblower. Mueller, who became FBI director just before the Sept. 11 attacks, has not commented on the substance of Rowley's letter, which is classified. But after receiving the letter, he asked the Justice Department's inspector general's office to investigate Rowley's allegations. "The essence of what (Mueller) is doing to reorganize the bureau goes to the heart of the questions she is raising in her letter," FBI spokesman John Collingwood said Monday. This week, Mueller plans to further detail his program to reshape the FBI from an agency focused on reacting to crime to one that is focused on preventing terrorism. Chief among Mueller's plans will be improving the bureau's intelligence operations by having CIA personnel assigned to the FBI to work on analysis. He also is likely to centralize the FBI's anti-terrorism operations in Washington. On Capitol Hill, Rowley's letter is being seen as something of a smoking gun that reflects the need for major change at the FBI. Rep. Porter Goss, R-Fla., chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, says the Rowley letter raises new questions about the FBI's ability to analyze critical intelligence. On Monday, a former high-ranking bureau official went as far as to suggest that the FBI, battered by a series of high-profile foul-ups in the past five years, may "cease to exist as we know it." "This beats anything I've ever seen," said the official, who asked not to be identified. "I'm heartsick about it. It's like watching a train wreck that you cannot prevent. It's even harder to watch because I know (Rowley's) not all wet." In an agency where sticking to the chain of command is a way of life, Rowley's letter is remarkable for its unvarnished and critical view of FBI operations, and of Mueller's leadership in the aftermath of Sept. 11. "Although I agree that it's very doubtful that the full scope of the tragedy could have been prevented," Rowley wrote, "it's at least possible we could have gotten lucky and uncovered one or two more of the terrorists in flight training prior to Sept. 11." Ronald Kessler, author of two critical books on the FBI, said Rowley's letter represents "another appalling example of how the FBI has been run." "There has been an aversion to taking risks to avoid criticism later," Kessler said. "Under former director Louis Freeh (Mueller's predecessor), there has been an atmosphere of political correctness when what was really needed was a much more concerted effort to uncover al-Qaeda. "I think Mueller is trying to change things in the right way. The real scandal is how Freeh mismanaged the bureau and why Congress gave him a free pass to do it." Freeh could not be reached for comment. Contributing: Toni Locy