US: Russia Didn't Share Crucial Info on Tsarnaev

The Wall Street Journal has the latest in the blame game going on about what the FBI did or didn't do in regard to Tamerlan Tsarnaev: It quotes US officials as criticizing Russia for failing to hand over text messages it intercepted between Tsarnaev's mother and a relative that suggested her son wanted to join jihadist groups in that country. As has been previously known, Russia warned the FBI about Tsarnaev in 2011, but it didn't turn over any additional information about him when the FBI asked.

The text messages might have been enough to prompt a more thorough investigation of Tsarnaev than actually took place, says House Intelligence Committee chair Mike Rogers. The information "would have allowed the bureau to open an investigation where you could track [Mr. Tsarnaev's] communications," he said. "To me, that's where the ball really got dropped." Rep. Michael McCaul of the House homeland security panel echoed the point. Nor did Russian officials let the US know that it had Tsarnaev under close security during his trip home in 2012. (Click to read about Tsarnaev's controversial burial site.)