Report: Russia Withheld Information On Tamerlan Tsarnaev
BOSTON (CBS) - A new report is shedding light on how much authorities knew and didn't know about the Boston Marathon bombing suspects and when.
The New York Times, citing an inspector general's report, reported the Russian government had information about Tamerlan Tsarnaev two years before the attacks, but did not share it with the FBI.
The inspector general's report claims Russia intercepted a phone conversation between Tsarnaev and his mother in which they discussed Islamic jihad.
READ: Full Justice Dept. Report
The report shows, despite repeated requests, the United States did not get that information.
According to the Times, the report was produced by the inspector general of the Intelligence Community, which has responsibility for 17 separate agencies, and the inspectors general from the Department of Homeland Security, the Justice Department and the Central Intelligence Agency.
The report has not been made public.
"My understanding is that there were outstanding questions from the FBI to Russian intelligence that went unanswered for a year or more," Gov. Deval Patrick told reporters Thursday.
"That all presupposes that that information would have helped prevent the attack that happened. I'm not jumping to that conclusion. But I think we would all feel better had there been greater access to information that was within the control of Russian intelligence."
In another development, the Boston Globe reported Tamerlan Tsarnaev tried to change his name a few months before the bombings.
Tsarnaev sought to legally change his first name to Muaz, an early Islamic scholar, about six weeks after he returned from Dagestan in 2012, a government official told the paper.
The name change came as part of a U.S. citizenship application Tsarnaev filed in August 2012.
MORE LOCAL NEWS FROM CBS BOSTON
