House Holds First Hearings on Boston Bombings

Intelligence gathering a point of contention

Congress held its first hearing on Thursday on the Boston Marathon bombings — and Republicans raised immediate concerns about intelligence gathering before and after the attacks.

"My fear is that the Boston bombers may have succeeded because our system failed," said House Homeland Security Chairman Michael McCaul (R-Texas). "We can and must do better."

The Republican argued that more should have been done by federal authorities in the aftermath.

"I was disturbed in the days following the attacks to read that some officials had closed the case on whether there was a foreign connection, when the FBI had just begun its investigation," McCaul said. "As a former federal counterterrorism prosecutor, this rush to judgment was both premature and irresponsible."