WASHINGTON - The FBI is still not reviewing reams of evidence collected in counterterrorism cases, and has fewer translators than it did a few years ago, an internal government watchdog said yesterday.
Glenn Fine, the Justice Department’s inspector general, issued a report finding flaws in the FBI’s translation and evidence review efforts. FBI officials said the inspector general overstated the problem by double-counting wiretap recordings that are shared with more than one bureau office.
The 131-page report says that since 2003, the FBI has not reviewed about 47,000 hours of audio files in counterterrorism cases - the equivalent of a single recording running for 5 1/2 years. The bureau says the real backlog is only about a tenth of that, or 4,770 hours - 200 days worth.
In the most recent budget year, some 740 hours of recordings were not reviewed in the most important counterterrorism cases, the report said. FBI officials said the actual number is about 223 hours.
“Not reviewing such material increases the risk that the FBI will not detect information in its possession that may be important to its counterterrorism and counterintelligence efforts,’’ the report said.
Overall, the FBI did not review about 25 percent of the recordings it made for counterintelligence work, auditors found. The bureau reviewed virtually all of the wiretap evidence gathered in criminal cases, according to the report.
In a written response to the findings, FBI Deputy Director John Pistole said it would be a waste of time and resources to individually review all of the counterintelligence evidence it collects; instead, they use “advanced technology to assist in the identification’’ of the specific recordings that contain valuable evidence.
