[JURIST] US Attorney General Alberto Gonzales [official profile] Monday announced [statement] the creation of a new National Security Division [fact sheet] at the Department of Justice, bringing "under one umbrella the Department's primary national security elements" as authorized by the recent renewal of the Patriot Act [JURIST report]. The division is designed to bridge the gap between the law enforcement and intelligence teams in the government as recommended by the WMD Commission [official website] and will include attorneys from both the Counterterrorism [official website] and Counterespionage [official website] sections of the Criminal Division and the Office of Intelligence Policy and Review [official website] specializing in the Foreign Surveillance Intelligence Act [text]. The US Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISC) [FJC backgrounder], bypassed by the administration's domestic surveillance program [JURIST news archive], will also be included in the new division.

Gonzales Monday urged Congress to quickly approve the appointment of current US Attorney for the District of Columbia Kenneth Wainstein [official profile], President Bush's nominee [press release] to be the first Assistant Attorney General for National Security. AP has more.