President Barack Obama stood behind the FBI Tuesday for its handling of a 2011 inquiry into Boston Marathon bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, the New York Times is reporting.
The FBI has come under scrutiny after it was revealed that Tsarnaev was the subject of a probe by the agency after they were contacted about his possible terrorist ties by Russia.
The agency interviewed Tsarnaev but said they found no evidence of any radical Islamic ties and closed the case.
Tamerlan Tsarnaev and his brother Dzhokhar are suspected of setting off the bombs at the end of the Boston Marathon on April 15 that killed three and injured more than 170.
The elder Tsarnaev brother was killed in a shootout with police, the younger brother is in custody and has been charged with using a weapon of mass destruction.
"It's not as if the FBI did nothing," Obama said.
"They not only investigated the older brother, they interviewed the older brother. They concluded that there were no signs that he was engaging in extremist activity."
James R. Clapper Jr., director of national intelligence, said there will be a review of how the FBI and CIA handled the 2011 investigation into Tsarnaev.
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