{
  "id": 2543821,
  "title": "Don’t Get ‘Spun Up’ Over Moussaoui, Minneapolis Agents Were Told by FBI, CIA",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/22/dont-get-spun-up-over-moussaoui-minneapolis-agents-were-told-by-fbi",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-22T09:00:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Newsweek",
    "slug": "newsweek",
    "url": "https://www.newsweek.com/moussaoui-minneapolis-agents-fbi-cia-9-11-12248745"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "In the days leading up to the 9/11 attacks, the FBI and CIA made a critical error in their handling of information regarding a man named Zacarias Moussaoui. On August 22, 2001, the FBI's legal attaché office in Paris received a report from French intelligence about Moussaoui, who had been arrested in Minnesota on August 16. French intelligence had information suggesting that Moussaoui had links to an individual linked to the Chechen rebels, who had fought in Chechnya and worked for Emir Al-Khattab Ibn Khattab, a leader of Chechen rebels.\n\nThe Minneapolis FBI field office began discussions with FBI headquarters about whether the Chechen rebels were a recognized foreign power, in order to potentially obtain a warrant under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). However, none of the Minneapolis agents were experts on FISA, and they relied on advice from FBI headquarters that they needed to identify a recognized foreign power to utilize the FISA statute. This led to a series of discussions between the Minneapolis field office and FBI headquarters, ultimately resulting in the Minneapolis field office expending valuable time and effort on a potentially misguided search for a warrant.\n\nMeanwhile, the FBI shifted its focus to arranging for Moussaoui's deportation to France, hoping that French secret police would search his belongings. Despite the abundance of evidence pointing to Moussaoui's profile and potential involvement in terrorism, CIA director George Tenet was briefed on August 23 and concluded that Moussaoui had no apparent connection to al-Qaeda. The Minneapolis agents continued to seek any intelligence that might connect Moussaoui to the Chechen rebels or al-Qaeda, expressing concern that he might take control of a plane and fly it into a target, such as the World Trade Center.",
  "summary": "Field office agents were also rebuked. \"Things work much better when our agencies are communicating HQ to HQ,\" the CIA said.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}