This report provides background on some of the key elements of the FBI terrorism investigative process based on publicly available information. This is most evident domestically in the increased number of its Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTF). The FBI's post-9/11 transformation is particularly evident in four areas: The USA PATRIOT Act provided the FBI additional authorities and enhanced investigative tools. The FBI and DOJ altered the way the Bureau investigated terrorism with the 2008 revision of The Attorney General's Guidelines for Domestic FBI Operations . Critics have voiced broad concerns about the Mukasey Guidelines. In response to criticisms of its intelligence capabilities in the aftermath of 9/11, the FBI has introduced a series of reforms intended to transform the Bureau from a largely reactive law enforcement agency focused on criminal investigations into a more proactive, agile, flexible, and intelligence-driven agency that can prevent acts of terrorism. To counter violent plots, U.S. law enforcement has employed two tactics that have been described by one scholar as the "Al Capone" approach and the use of "agent provocateurs." Balancing civil liberties against the need for preventative policing to combat terrorism is a key policy challenge. In its oversight role, Congress may wish to examine the extent to which intelligence has been integrated into FBI operations and culture to support its counterterrorism mission and the progress the Bureau has made on its intelligence reform initiatives.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI, the Bureau) is the lead federal law enforcement agency charged with counterterrorism investigations. Since the September 11, 2001 (9/11) attacks, the FBI has implemented a series of reforms intended to transform itself from a largely reactive law enforcement agency focused on investigations of criminal activity into a more proactive, agile, flexible, and intelligence-driven agency that can prevent acts of terrorism.
This report provides background information on key elements of the FBI terrorism investigative process based on publicly available information. It discusses
several enhanced investigative tools, authorities, and capabilities provided to the FBI through post-9/11 legislation, such as the USA PATRIOT Act of 2001; the 2008 revision to the Attorney General's Guidelines for Domestic FBI Operations (Mukasey Guidelines); and the expansion of Joint Terrorism Task Forces (JTTF) throughout the country; intelligence reform within the FBI and concerns about the progress of those reform initiatives; the FBI's proactive, intelligence-driven posture in its terrorism investigations using preventative policing techniques such as the "Al Capone" approach and the use of agent provocateurs; and the implications for privacy and civil liberties inherent in the use of preventative policing techniques to combat terrorism.
This report sets forth possible considerations for Congress as it executes its oversight role. These issues include the extent to which intelligence has been integrated into FBI operations to support its counterterrorism mission and the progress the Bureau has made on its intelligence reform initiatives.