The new International Monitoring Commission report shows Sinn Féin is nothing more than a subsidiary organisation to the IRA, the Minister for Justice Michael McDowell has said.
Mr McDowell raised the report's findings with the US attorney general, Alberto Gonzales, in Washington last night during a scheduled meeting on a possible new extradition treaty between the US and Ireland.
Mr McDowell said the report spoke for itself and that any response Gerry Adams gives is "a shaving mirror response" to himself as an IRA leader.
"To understand the Provisional movement, you have to understand that the IRA comes first and that Sinn Féin is a subsidiary organisation. A decision to curtail or wind up the IRA in a radical way will need a convention and they haven't done that yet," he said.
Mr McDowell said that until that happens, the IRA and Sinn Féin will continue to "tweak and adjust" its message while putting the process on hold. This included Gerry Adams's pre-election appeal to the IRA to engage in democratic process.
Mr Adams's appeal should be placed in inverted commas because it was really Mr Adams talking to himself, the Minister said.
He called for an unequivocal statement of disbandment by the IRA and not just the "shaving mirror stuff" of Gerry Adams as the IMC report showed that the IRA is still heavily involved in crime, including the Northern Bank robbery in Belfast in December.
Mr McDowell is on a tour of the US this week to learn about policing in Boston, Washington and New York.
He met Mr Gonzales last night for a brief discussion about the IMC findings, as well as more substantial talks about a possible new bilateral extradition agreement.
Mr McDowell said the US was anxious to have bilateral agreement in place with EU states and Ireland is very much in favour of mutual legal assistance.