FBI to get help on Election Day plots
By Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY
WASHINGTON — Attorney General John Ashcroft quietly has issued a sweeping directive that authorizes the FBI to use hundreds of law enforcement agents from other federal agencies to help investigate any terrorist plots that target the Nov. 2 elections. (Related story: Election warning causes anxiety)
The directive — the first of its kind since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — allows the FBI to tap agents from the U.S. Marshals Service, the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives as part of a nationwide effort by FBI-led counterterrorism units to seek out and stop any plots against the elections.
U.S. law enforcement officials continue to say that beyond intelligence reports indicating that al-Qaeda wants to disrupt the elections, they have no specific information about an existing plot, method or target of a potential attack.
The directive was issued without fanfare at a time when the Bush administration is being accused by Democrats and civil-rights activists of using terrorism alerts to discourage people from voting. But it offers insight into the government's ongoing concern about an attack similar to the deadly train bombings in Madrid last March, just before the Spanish elections.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2004-10-07-fbi-help_x.htm