Report Links Lawyer's Religion to FBI's Zeal

FBI fingerprint examiners were reluctant to admit that they had mistakenly linked an Oregon lawyer to the 2004 Madrid train bombings in part because he was a Muslim convert and had represented a terrorism defendant in court, according to a report released yesterday by the Justice Department's inspector general.

The 20-page summary report by Inspector General Glenn A. Fine said that Brandon Mayfield's religion "was not the sole or primary cause" of the FBI Laboratory's mistaken identification of him, but it contributed to the bureau's reluctance to reexamine conclusions in the case.

Several FBI and Justice Department officials acknowledged that "Mayfield's religion was a factor in the investigation," the report said, in part because officials expected that any suspect in the bombings was likely to be Muslim.

"One of the examiners candidly admitted that if the person identified had been someone without those characteristics, like the 'Maytag Repairman,' the Laboratory might have revisited the identification with more skepticism and caught the error," the report said.

The report also identified "troubling" wording in government affidavits submitted in federal court, "which apparently led the judge to believe that the had agreed with the FBI's fingerprint identification." In fact, Spanish investigators had concluded from the beginning that the fingerprint did not belong to Mayfield, despite concerted attempts by the FBI to persuade them otherwise.



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/01/06/AR2006010601077.html

knowing that they, at least, are safe from the FBI.

They are really good at getting people in trouble if your not in their party. They just seem to love to spy on people. Frat boys at play.