of Foleygate. C-Span just reporting this from the HILL.
Background on Louis Freeh from SALON:
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Judging Louis FreehThe Clinton-era FBI chief was seen as a straight arrow who prepared the bureau for the demands of a new century. Now critics question whether he left the nation vulnerable to attack.By Eric Boehlert
Today, though, the bureau is under intense criticism for its failure to heed terrorism warnings from agents in Phoenix and Minneapolis in the weeks before the Sept. 11 attacks on New York and suburban Washington, D.C. And while critics have focused on the performance of current FBI director Robert Mueller, Freeh's responsibility for the bureaucratic breakdowns is likely to come under close scrutiny during congressional hearings that open this week.
Freeh was expert in political survival, some say, forging an alliance with top Republicans after he'd turned against the president who appointed him. And though he still wins strong grades from some lawmakers and analysts, the critics say his eight years on the job may have left the agency -- and the nation -- vulnerable.
"If people are looking for a scapegoat, I'd nominate Louis Freeh," says Ronald Kessler, author of "The Bureau: The Secret History of the FBI."
It's no secret the FBI suffered a series of embarrassments during Freeh's tenure, some of them deadly. They include the botched handling of the investigations into Waco and Ruby Ridge; the bombing at the Atlanta Olympic Village and the heavy-handed tactics used against Richard Jewell; the breakdown of the FBI crime labs; the inept pursuit of suspected atomic spy Wen Ho Lee; the belated discovery of turncoat agent Richard Hanssen; and the failure to deliver thousands of documents to defense attorneys during the trial of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh.
The FBI fiascoes seemed to come like clockwork under Freeh, and they continue to roll out to this day. A recently uncovered March 2000 memo reveals that agents mistakenly destroyed evidence gathered in an investigation involving Osama bin Laden.
more on Freeh...here..
http://216.239.51.104/search?q=cache:_6ze8xamziMJ:www.salon.com/news/feature/2002/06/04/freeh/index.html+Louis+Freeh&hl=en&gl=us&ct=clnk&cd=6
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