FBI Reforms Are Lagging, 9/11 Panel Member Warns

Members of the Sept. 11 commission have been dismayed by persistent problems at the FBI, and plan to reconsider the bureau’s role as the nation’s lead domestic intelligence agency, a commission member said Monday at a hearing on the progress of government counter-terrorism reforms.

The comments from Jamie S. Gorelick, a former deputy attorney general at the Justice Department, indicate that the FBI is likely to face fresh scrutiny when members of the Sept. 11 panel -- which was formally dissolved last year -- reconvene in an unofficial capacity this summer to issue a report card on whether their reform recommendations have been adopted.

Gorelick said former commission members increasingly believed that the FBI had faltered and in some cases failed in its efforts to address problems in intelligence sharing and counter-terrorism operations. That dim view is in contrast to the commission’s final report last year, which was critical of the FBI but generally endorsed the bureau’s reform plans and urged preserving its position as the nation’s primary domestic intelligence agency.

“We thought the leadership of the bureau got it and was on the right track,” Gorelick said during Monday’s hearing, which was organized by a nonprofit group founded by former Sept. 11 commission members. “We have been taken aback collectively” by the FBI’s persistent breakdowns since the report was issued.

In particular, Gorelick pointed to problems surrounding the FBI’s effort to build a new computer system, known as Virtual Case File, designed to streamline the sharing of information. The FBI said in March that it was scrapping the case file software, part of a $600-million computer upgrade, at a cost of about $100 million. The bureau is in the early stages of selecting a contractor to design a new system.

Gorelick also cited the harsh criticism the FBI received in a report issued by a separate presidential commission that examined U.S. intelligence capabilities.

Gorelick stressed that the former Sept. 11 commission members had not reached any conclusions about the FBI, and reiterated arguments for why the bureau should remain in charge of gathering information on terrorist threats within the United States. In its report last year, the commission rejected the idea of creating a separate domestic intelligence agency, similar to Britain’s MI5. Dividing law enforcement and domestic intelligence-gathering “breaks a critical connection,” Gorelick said.

But the remarks from Gorelick and three panelists reflect growing skepticism over the progress of reforms being championed by FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III. The other panelists, who were not members of the Sept. 11 commission, included Richard L. Thornburgh, a former U.S. attorney general; John Gannon, a former senior CIA official who previously served as chairman of the National Intelligence Council; and a reporter for a newsmagazine.

Monday’s hearing was the first of eight scheduled over the next several months by former members of the commission. The 10 commissioners have formed a nonprofit organization known as the 9/11 Public Discourse Project as part of an unusual effort by a federal panel to extend its influence and continue lobbying for recommended reforms.

Overall, Gorelick and others said the government had made vast strides in improving its intelligence capabilities and defenses against terrorist threats, most notably by creating a new position, the director of national intelligence, to oversee the activities of the nation’s 15 spy agencies.

But the panelists said problems persisted, and that reform efforts in some cases had created confusion surrounding the authorities and roles of various agencies in fighting terrorism.

Gannon said the creation of new analytic centers since the Sept. 11 attacks had led to a surge in counter-terrorism reports and assessments, but also had fueled rivalries and strained scarce analytic resources.

Gannon also questioned plans for dramatic expansions in the number of spies being deployed by the CIA and other agencies, saying improved human intelligence “is a question of strategy, not numbers.”

Gorelick expressed concern that there had been backsliding in some areas of reform. In particular, she said members of the Sept. 11 panel opposed legislation being considered in the House that would curb the intelligence director’s ability to move personnel from one agency to another.

But much of Monday’s discussion centered on the FBI, which is already facing growing pressure to prove it is capable of handling its expanded mission.

In March, a presidential commission concluded that the FBI had made “insufficient progress” in recasting itself after Sept. 11, and recommended a major restructuring of its intelligence operations to deal with the threat of terrorism.

One of the problems, the commission found, was that the bureau’s top intelligence official had too little control over the hiring and firing of the analysts and agents who gather and assess threat information for the agency.

The commission recommended that the FBI create a new and expanded national security division. Under the proposal, the head of the division would report, at least indirectly, to the new director of national intelligence, John D. Negroponte, meaning that the FBI would lose some of its independence.

Mueller has said that he is open to proposals that would make the bureau more effective in fighting terrorism. But some FBI officials have questioned the commission’s proposals, saying the changes the bureau has implemented since Sept. 11, including the hiring of hundreds of new analysts and an emphasis on intelligence collection and reporting in field offices, should be given more time to work.

Mueller has “led an unprecedented transformation of the FBI,” said FBI spokeswoman Cassandra Chandler, in a statement in response to the Sept. 11 commission discussion. She cited gains in creating new intelligence groups in FBI field offices and new partnerships with state and local law enforcement officials, among other moves.

“By building our intelligence capabilities, improving our technology and working together, we have and will continue to develop the capabilities we need to succeed against all threats,” Chandler said.

The Justice Department is in the process of responding to the commission proposals, and the White House is expected to make recommendations later this month. The commission also proposed that the Justice Department create its own national security division.

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Times staff writer Richard B. Schmitt in Washington contributed to this report.