Thread: Justice Dept.: FBI misused Patriot Act

I think that they should be ashamed........

By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer 40 minutes ago


WASHINGTON - The FBI improperly and, in some cases, illegally used the USA Patriot Act to secretly obtain personal information about people in the United States, a Justice Department audit concluded Friday.

And for three years the FBI has underreported to Congress how often it forced businesses to turn over the customer data, the audit found.
FBI agents sometimes demanded the data without proper authorization, according to the 126-page audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine. At other times, the audit found, the FBI improperly obtained telephone records in non-emergency circumstances.
The audit blames agent error and shoddy record-keeping for the bulk of the problems and did not find any indication of criminal misconduct.
Still, "we believe the improper or illegal uses we found involve serious misuses of national security letter authorities," the audit concludes.
At issue are the security letters, a power outlined in the Patriot Act that the Bush administration pushed through Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. The letters, or administrative subpoenas, are used in suspected terrorism and espionage cases. They allow the FBI to require telephone companies, Internet service providers, banks, credit bureaus and other businesses to produce highly personal records about their customers or subscribers — without a judge's approval.
About three-fourths of the national security letters were issued for counterterror cases, and the other fourth for spy investigations.
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller called Fine's audit "a fair and objective review of the FBI's use of a proven and useful investigative tool."
The finding "of deficiencies in our processes is unacceptable," Mueller said in a statement.
"We strive to exercise our authorities consistent with the privacy protections and civil liberties that we are sworn to uphold," Mueller said. "Anything less will not be tolerated. While we've already taken some steps to address these shortcomings, I am ordering additional corrective measures to be taken immediately."
Fine's annual review is required by Congress, over the objections of the Bush administration.
The audit released Friday found that the number of national security letters issued by the FBI skyrocketed in the years after the Patriot Act became law.
In 2000, for example, the FBI issued an estimated 8,500 letters. By 2003, however, that number jumped to 39,000. It rose again the next year, to about 56,000 letters in 2004, and dropped to approximately 47,000 in 2005.
Over the entire three-year period, the audit found the FBI issued 143,074 national security letters requesting customer data from businesses.
The FBI vastly underreported the numbers. In 2005, the FBI told Congress that its agents in 2003 and 2004 had delivered only 9,254 national security letters seeking e-mail, telephone or financial information on 3,501 U.S. citizens and legal residents over the previous two years.
Additionally, the audit found, the FBI identified 26 possible violations in its use of the national security letters, including failing to get proper authorization, making improper requests under the law and unauthorized collection of telephone or Internet e-mail records.
Of the violations, 22 were caused by FBI errors, while the other four were the result of mistakes made by the firms that received the letters.

The FBI also used so-called "exigent letters," signed by officials at FBI headquarters who were not authorized to sign national security letters, to obtain information. In at least 700 cases, these exigent letters were sent to three telephone companies to get toll billing records and subscriber information.
"In many cases, there was no pending investigation associated with the request at the time the exigent letters were sent," the audit concluded.
The letters inaccurately said the FBI had requested subpoenas for the information requested — "when, in fact, it had not," the audit found.
Senators outraged over the conclusions signaled they would provide tougher oversight of the FBI — and perhaps limits its power.
"I am very concerned that the FBI has so badly misused national security letters," said Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee that oversees the FBI.
Sen. Russ Feingold (news, bio, voting record), D-Wis., another member on the judiciary panel, said the report "proves that 'trust us' doesn't cut it."
Justice spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos said Attorney General Alberto Gonzales "commends the work of the inspector general in uncovering serious problems in the FBI's use of NSLs."
___
On the Net:
The report is at: http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/reports/FBI/index.htm
Justice Department: http://www.usdoj.gov FBI: http://www.fbi.gov/

Originally Posted by michaelr

I think that they should be ashamed........

By LARA JAKES JORDAN, Associated Press Writer 40 minutes ago


WASHINGTON - The FBI improperly and, in some cases, illegally used the USA Patriot Act to secretly obtain personal information about people in the United States, a Justice Department audit concluded Friday.

And for three years the FBI has underreported to Congress how often it forced businesses to turn over the customer data, the audit found.
FBI agents sometimes demanded the data without proper authorization, according to the 126-page audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine. At other times, the audit found, the FBI improperly obtained telephone records in non-emergency circumstances.
The audit blames agent error and shoddy record-keeping for the bulk of the problems and did not find any indication of criminal misconduct.
Still, "we believe the improper or illegal uses we found involve serious misuses of national security letter authorities," the audit concludes.
At issue are the security letters, a power outlined in the Patriot Act that the Bush administration pushed through Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. The letters, or administrative subpoenas, are used in suspected terrorism and espionage cases. They allow the FBI to require telephone companies, Internet service providers, banks, credit bureaus and other businesses to produce highly personal records about their customers or subscribers — without a judge's approval.
About three-fourths of the national security letters were issued for counterterror cases, and the other fourth for spy investigations.
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller called Fine's audit "a fair and objective review of the FBI's use of a proven and useful investigative tool."
The finding "of deficiencies in our processes is unacceptable," Mueller said in a statement.
"We strive to exercise our authorities consistent with the privacy protections and civil liberties that we are sworn to uphold," Mueller said. "Anything less will not be tolerated. While we've already taken some steps to address these shortcomings, I am ordering additional corrective measures to be taken immediately."
Fine's annual review is required by Congress, over the objections of the Bush administration.
The audit released Friday found that the number of national security letters issued by the FBI skyrocketed in the years after the Patriot Act became law.
In 2000, for example, the FBI issued an estimated 8,500 letters. By 2003, however, that number jumped to 39,000. It rose again the next year, to about 56,000 letters in 2004, and dropped to approximately 47,000 in 2005.
Over the entire three-year period, the audit found the FBI issued 143,074 national security letters requesting customer data from businesses.
The FBI vastly underreported the numbers. In 2005, the FBI told Congress that its agents in 2003 and 2004 had delivered only 9,254 national security letters seeking e-mail, telephone or financial information on 3,501 U.S. citizens and legal residents over the previous two years.
Additionally, the audit found, the FBI identified 26 possible violations in its use of the national security letters, including failing to get proper authorization, making improper requests under the law and unauthorized collection of telephone or Internet e-mail records.
Of the violations, 22 were caused by FBI errors, while the other four were the result of mistakes made by the firms that received the letters.

The FBI also used so-called "exigent letters," signed by officials at FBI headquarters who were not authorized to sign national security letters, to obtain information. In at least 700 cases, these exigent letters were sent to three telephone companies to get toll billing records and subscriber information.
"In many cases, there was no pending investigation associated with the request at the time the exigent letters were sent," the audit concluded.
The letters inaccurately said the FBI had requested subpoenas for the information requested — "when, in fact, it had not," the audit found.
Senators outraged over the conclusions signaled they would provide tougher oversight of the FBI — and perhaps limits its power.
"I am very concerned that the FBI has so badly misused national security letters," said Sen. Arlen Specter (news, bio, voting record), R-Pa., top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee that oversees the FBI.
Sen. Russ Feingold (news, bio, voting record), D-Wis., another member on the judiciary panel, said the report "proves that 'trust us' doesn't cut it."
Justice spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos said Attorney General Alberto Gonzales "commends the work of the inspector general in uncovering serious problems in the FBI's use of NSLs."
___
On the Net:
The report is at: http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/reports/FBI/index.htm
Justice Department: http://www.usdoj.gov FBI: http://www.fbi.gov/

I am shocked, shocked to find out that the government is abusing the authority of the USA Patriot Act. Golly, who could have seen THIS coming???



Only those of us who opposed this act as an unnecessary infringement on civil liberties that's who!

Originally Posted by johnlocke

Only those of us who opposed this act as an unnecessary infringement on civil liberties that's who!

Aye, couldn't of said it better.

It is funny how they misused something that in of itself is misused in its existence. This is probably one story you will hear out of the many you will never hear about.

Well, I hate to say it, but the AP is about as biased as (you think) Fox News is.

Originally Posted by Invayne

Well, I hate to say it, but the AP is about as biased as (you think) Fox News is.

OK so is everyone else, this is reuters, This is fox news. Do you want some more?

Originally Posted by Invayne

Well, I hate to say it, but the AP is about as biased as (you think) Fox News is.

I think FAUX news is incredibly biased.

The least amount of gov't intrusion can & does open us all up to tyranny, never mind something that actually gives them more power to snoop. Maybe the people that put that act into being had good intentions, but the people that us those powers don't always have our best interests at heart. Our gov't is too big & unaccountable for any kind of power to not be misused by somebody, someplace, sometime. However, don't count on this being the last we'll hear of misuse of power & that includes future agencies as well.
Welcome to 1984.

I'm not surprised. The libs said this was bad and they were right. When gov gets bigger it is a bad thing. When the conservative say that national medicine is bad they are right because it makes government bigger.


As soon as we all realize that the pet projects of one party or another are bad or good in large part depending upon how big they make the evil ogre grow the sooner we can be free-er.

Very well said Lake.

People who read these boards already know my position on the MCA and patriot acts. For all the bullshit hypocrisy we see from the left, however, nothing the left does can justify or excuse this direct violation of the constitution by the right. This shit needs to be fixed and gotten rid of, period.

Originally Posted by Migi e!

The least amount of gov't intrusion can & does open us all up to tyranny, never mind something that actually gives them more power to snoop. Maybe the people that put that act into being had good intentions, but the people that us those powers don't always have our best interests at heart. Our gov't is too big & unaccountable for any kind of power to not be misused by somebody, someplace, sometime. However, don't count on this being the last we'll hear of misuse of power & that includes future agencies as well.
Welcome to 1984.

There are no good intentions possible here. Ever listen to Congress talk about the act? Many disavow ever reading the damn thing, yet they voted for it. That's one heck of a way to run a railroad...