Ouch

There’s some language that reflects rather poorly on FBI Director Freeh (emphasis in original):

…Rule 6(e) restricts the disclosure of information actually revealed in the confidence of the grand jury chamber. This prohibition, however, does not actually reach other information in the possession of law enforcement entities…

…Sadly, however, Rule 6(e) increasingly came to be used simply as an excuse for not sharing information…for years, it was routine FBI and DOJ practice to respond to virtually any Intelligence Community requests for information with the answer that “Rule 6(e)” prevented any response…

…Indeed, by this account, NSC officials met with Attorney General Reno in 1993 about the obstacles this dynamic presented for counterterrorism analysis. “Although the issue was revisited many times over the next four years,” nothing happened: “The FBI balked at the proposal, and [Attorney General] Reno, although she was [FBI Director] Louis Freeh’s boss, could never bring him around.”

This from Republican Senator Richard C. Shelby’s statement on. pp 93-94 of the Additional Views of Members of the Joint Inquiry

You may recall Freeh from memorable episodes such as Wen Ho Lee, Robert Hanssen, Richard Jewel, not catching Eric Rudolph, and his clashes with Janet Reno over whether to appoint another independent council appointed to investigate Democratic fundraising practices in 1996—requests that Reno denied. In the plus column, Freeh’s FBI did quickly identify and then capture Oklahoma City bomber Timoth McVeigh.

AB