Post by unlawflcombatnt on Mar 21, 2007 16:20:10 GMT -6
Apparently the FBI has essentially ignored the law and the Constitution over the last 5 years in obtaining while spying and illegally obtaining information on American citizens, even those not even suspected of terrorist connections.
The FBI's Gestapo-like activity was well-described in a March 9, 2007 article in the Washington Post by staff writers John Solomon and Barton Gellman. Below are excerpts from the article, titled Frequent Errors In FBI's Secret Records Requests.
"The inspector general's audit found 22 possible breaches of internal FBI and Justice Department regulations -- some of which were potential violations of law -- in a sampling of 293 "national security letters." The letters were used by the FBI to obtain the personal records of U.S. residents or visitors between 2003 and 2005. The FBI identified 26 potential violations in other cases....
The use of national security letters has grown exponentially since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In 2005 alone, the audit found, the FBI issued more than 19,000 such letters, amounting to 47,000 separate requests for information.
The letters enable an FBI field office to compel the release of private information without the authority of a grand jury or judge. The USA Patriot Act, enacted after the 2001 attacks, eliminated the requirement that the FBI show "specific and articulable" reasons to believe that the records it demands belong to a foreign intelligence agent or terrorist.
That law, and Bush administration guidelines for its use, transformed national security letters by permitting clandestine scrutiny of U.S. residents and visitors who are not alleged to be terrorists or spies.
Now the bureau needs only to certify that the records are "sought for" or "relevant to" an investigation "to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities."...
But (Inspector General) Fine found that FBI agents used national security letters without citing an authorized investigation, claimed "exigent" circumstances that did not exist in demanding information and did not have adequate documentation to justify the issuance of letters....
In an unknown number of other cases, third parties such as telephone companies, banks and Internet providers responded to national security letters with detailed personal information about customers that the letters do not permit to be released....
The report identified several instances in which the FBI used a tool known as "exigent letters" to obtain information urgently, promising that the requests would be covered later by grand jury subpoenas or national security letters. In several of those cases, the subpoenas were never sent, the review found.
The review also found several instances in which agents claimed there were exigent circumstances when none existed...."
The full Washington Post article can be found at
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/08/AR2007030802356.html?sub=AR
Did I miss something in the news?
Has the Constitution been completely suspended???
The FBI's Gestapo-like activity was well-described in a March 9, 2007 article in the Washington Post by staff writers John Solomon and Barton Gellman. Below are excerpts from the article, titled Frequent Errors In FBI's Secret Records Requests.
"The inspector general's audit found 22 possible breaches of internal FBI and Justice Department regulations -- some of which were potential violations of law -- in a sampling of 293 "national security letters." The letters were used by the FBI to obtain the personal records of U.S. residents or visitors between 2003 and 2005. The FBI identified 26 potential violations in other cases....
The use of national security letters has grown exponentially since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. In 2005 alone, the audit found, the FBI issued more than 19,000 such letters, amounting to 47,000 separate requests for information.
The letters enable an FBI field office to compel the release of private information without the authority of a grand jury or judge. The USA Patriot Act, enacted after the 2001 attacks, eliminated the requirement that the FBI show "specific and articulable" reasons to believe that the records it demands belong to a foreign intelligence agent or terrorist.
That law, and Bush administration guidelines for its use, transformed national security letters by permitting clandestine scrutiny of U.S. residents and visitors who are not alleged to be terrorists or spies.
Now the bureau needs only to certify that the records are "sought for" or "relevant to" an investigation "to protect against international terrorism or clandestine intelligence activities."...
But (Inspector General) Fine found that FBI agents used national security letters without citing an authorized investigation, claimed "exigent" circumstances that did not exist in demanding information and did not have adequate documentation to justify the issuance of letters....
In an unknown number of other cases, third parties such as telephone companies, banks and Internet providers responded to national security letters with detailed personal information about customers that the letters do not permit to be released....
The report identified several instances in which the FBI used a tool known as "exigent letters" to obtain information urgently, promising that the requests would be covered later by grand jury subpoenas or national security letters. In several of those cases, the subpoenas were never sent, the review found.
The review also found several instances in which agents claimed there were exigent circumstances when none existed...."
The full Washington Post article can be found at
www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/08/AR2007030802356.html?sub=AR
Did I miss something in the news?
Has the Constitution been completely suspended???