By Alexander Bolton | The Hill
Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano acknowledged to a Senate panel Tuesday that her department was aware of Boston bombing suspect Tamerlan Tsarnaev’s trip to Russia in 2012.
Tsarnaev, who died after a shootout with police Friday, took the trip a few months after the FBI interviewed him because of a tip from the Russian government that he was linked to radical Islamist groups.
The FBI was not aware of Tsarnaev’s six-month trip to a volatile region of Russia plagued by Islamist violence because an airline misspelled his name on a flight manifesto shared with the U.S. government.
Napolitano conceded to Republicans Tuesday that her department was aware of Tsarnaev’s departure from the country, but said the FBI had closed its investigation of him when he returned.
“Yes, the system pinged when he was leaving the United States. By the time he returned, all investigations — the matter had been closed,” Napolitano told lawmakers.
Napolitano’s response raises questions about the cooperation between the FBI and the Homeland Security Department in tracking legal residents suspected of links to terrorist groups.
