Attorney General Eric Holder said Thursday he's disturbed by what he's read about the NYPD conducting surveillance of mosques and Islamic student organizations in New Jersey.
Holder said the Justice Department is reviewing the matter, including letters from New Jersey officials complaining that they were kept in the dark about the surveillance.
The attorney general made the remarks at a subcommittee hearing of the Senate Appropriations Committee when asked by Sen. Frank Lautenberg, D-N.J., how a law-enforcement agency could spy on another state's residents without notifying authorities.
"I don't know," Holder replied. "We are in the process of reviewing the letters that have come in expressing concerns about those matters."
"At least what I've read publicly, and again, just what I've read in the newspapers, is disturbing," Holder said. "And these are things that are under review at the Justice Department."
The NYPD monitored Muslims in New Jersey at businesses and their mosques in a surveillance operation that was disclosed recently by The Associated Press in a series of news stories.
The attorney general said he has spoken to New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who strongly emphasized his concerns about the surveillance program.
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Holder said that at a reception several days ago, Christie "expressed to me the concerns that he had" and that the New Jersey governor "has now publicly expressed his concerns as only he can."
Christie has criticized the NYPD for what he and other New Jersey officials have described as less than full coordination and disclosure to them of what was going on.
Holder didn't say whether he was more concerned about the lack of coordination or the surveillance itself.
