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Section 8E(b) of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. App. § 8E(b)) is amended—

(a) by striking “and” at the end of paragraph (4); (b) by striking the period at the end of paragraph (5) and inserting “; and”; and (c) by inserting after paragraph (5) the following:

“(6) shall have access, under section 6(a)(1), to all records or other material available to the Department of Justice which relate to its programs and operations, notwithstanding any other provision of law, including but not limited to Title III of the Omnibus Crime Control and Safe Streets Act of 1968, as amended, 18 U.S.C. 2510–2522, Federal Rule of Criminal Procedure 6(e), and section 626 of the Fair Credit Reporting Act, 15 U.S.C. 1681u, except for subsection (a) of this section and any other provision of law enacted by Congress that expressly refers to the Inspector General and expressly limits his right of access, and provided that the Inspector General shall not disclose material protected from disclosure by any provision of law except in circumstances where the relevant provision permits a federal official to disclose the material.”

Sectional Analysis This draft legislative proposal would amend section 8E of the Inspector General Act of 1978 (5 U.S.C. Appendix Section 8E). This section of the Inspector General Act pertains only to the Department of Justice. The proposal would amend Section 8E(b) to add an additional paragraph (6). The new section 8E(b)(6) would clarify that the Department of Justice Inspector General is to have access to all documents that are available to DOJ and related to its programs and operations, notwithstanding any other provision of law except those that expressly restrict his/her access. Where the Department of Justice Inspector General is afforded access to certain sensitive information, however, such as grand jury information protected by Rule 6(e) of the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure, he/she would be required to follow the disclosure requirements already in law.