FBI admits Trilogy foul-ups

After years of touting its Virtual Case File system as the pinnacle of case management software, the FBI this month told the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, State and the Judiciary that the project probably has failed, and the bureau has wasted $104 million.

The hearing featured tense exchanges between FBI Director Robert Mueller, committee chairman Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) and Democratic Sens. Patrick Leahy of Vermont and Barbara Mikulski of Maryland.

Mueller took some responsibility for the VCF debacle, but put the rest of the blame on vendor Science Applications International Corp. SAIC strongly defends its work. *