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Report: FBI erred, but no abuse of Patriot Act

WASHINGTON - The Justice Department's internal watchdog on Friday faulted the FBI for sloppy work in mistakenly linking an Oregon lawyer, a Muslim convert, to the 2004 Madrid train bombings, but said the government did not misuse the antiterror Patriot Act against him.

FBI experts probably were more resistant to re-examining their conclusion that Brandon Mayfield's fingerprint matched one on a bag containing detonators like those used in the attacks in Spain because of his religion, Inspector General Glenn Fine said in the summary of a report that otherwise remains classified.

Federal prosecutors and FBI agents also made inaccurate statements to a federal judge to get arrest and criminal search warrants against Mayfield, Fine said.

The sworn statements submitted to U.S. District Judge Robert Jones led him to believe that U.S. and Spanish fingerprint analysts agreed that the print on the bag was Mayfield's, when in fact the Spaniards had raised questions about the identification, Fine said.

Fine did not address whether there was any intent to deceive Jones, as Mayfield attorney Gerry Spence has argued.

But rejecting assertions by Mayfield and others, he said, "We did not find any evidence that the FBI misused any of the provisions of the Patriot Act in conducting its investigation."

Mayfield is suing the government, alleging he was singled out because of his Muslim faith.

The FBI said Fine's report showed no Patriot Act abuse or employee misconduct, but rather errors that stemmed from the similarity of Mayfield's fingerprints to the one on the bag of detonators.

Fine said Mayfield's adherence to Islam played no role in the initial, erroneous determination that the fingerprints matched, noting that the experts did not know of Mayfield's religion or or his legal representation of other Muslims.

[Last modified January 7, 2006, 01:25:29]