Conyers: New FBI Report Confirms "Worst Fears" on FBI abuse of NSLs

[L. Coyote]

Conyers: New FBI Report Confirms "Worst Fears"
June 14, 2007 - http://judiciary.house.gov/newscenter.aspx?A=818

(Washington, DC)- Today, FBI officials briefed House Judiciary Committee staff on a new draft audit report detailing the bureau's use of National Security Letters (NSLs). The briefing served to update and correct prior statements to Congress, since the release of an earlier Inspector General report. The FBI confirmed that they found more abuses in the use of NSLs than the IG's report had originally found. FBI officials say they are launching a new compliance program as a result.

House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) had the following statement:

“The Patriot Act and its renewal was rammed through Congress with the repeated claim that there was not one instance in which the Act had been abused. We now know that information on law abiding Americans was illegally obtained and kept in secret files. This confirms some of our worst fears about what happens when you give the government too much power with too little oversight.”

There are legal spying programs. Because no law restricts the Military from spying on Americans, Conyers has no Judiciary Oversight of the majority of the spying, just the FBI abuse of NSLs and things like NSA spying in violation of the law, Bush's illegal spying. Meanwhile, the military spying continues.

-------MORE-------
DIA SPYING: NGIA collecting data, 133 U.S. cities, ID everyone, nationality, political affiliations
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x983282

[pacalo]

1. Please let there be a public hearing on this.

If this administration misuses its power to strategically remove U.S. attorneys with "good Americans", hold RNC campaign-strategy meetings during government policy meetings, & have Democrats thrown out of the boy king's public appearances, I can only guess who they're spying on. I just want to know for sure.

[L. Coyote]

2. Bring back the Amnesiac: Time’s up for Gonzales, again.

Time’s up for Gonzales, again.

On May 21, the Senate Judiciary Committee made at least its ninth formal request for documents related to President Bush’s warrantless domestic surveillance program. Committee chiefs Patrick Leahy (D-VT) and Arlen Specter (D-PA) gave Alberto Gonzales until June 5 to provide answers. He sent nothing. Leahy said today that the Justice Dept. stonewalling was “unacceptable and shows, yet again, its disdain for any kind of constitutional oversight of its activities.” (More on the NSA program in today’s Progress Report. - http://www.americanprogressaction.org/progressreport/2007/06/shady_surveillance.html)

Leahy’s full statement:

Comment of Senator Patrick Leahy, D-Vt.,
Chairman, Senate Judiciary Committee
June 8, 2007

“This Justice Department’s refusal to provide the material requested by the Committee is unacceptable and shows, yet again, its disdain for any kind of constitutional oversight of its activities.

“The warrantless wiretapping program has operated for over five years outside of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) and without the approval of the FISA Court. The Committee has continued to ask for the legal justification for this sweeping and secret program, and has continually been rebuffed by inadequate and at times, misleading, responses from this Justice Department. The information we have requested has been specific to the legal justification for this program and is firmly within the Committee’s oversight jurisdiction.

“The Justice Department’s continued frustration of this Committee’s attempts to carry out its constitutional oversight function is unfortunate. We will continue in our pursuit of this information until we get it, so that we can carry out our constitutional duties.”

-------------------------
I'm quite sure that means hearings.

58 Comments » http://thinkprogress.org/2007/06/08/times-up-for-gonzales-again/

[L. Coyote]

29. US HOUSE: Fredrickson's Statement on The Abuse of National Security Letters

Caroline Fredrickson's Statement for the Record on The Abuse of National Security Letters Before the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/nationalsecurityletters/29200leg20070328.html

Statement for the Record
of
Caroline Fredrickson, Director
Washington Legislative Office
American Civil Liberties Union

The Abuse of National Security Letters
Submitted to the United States House of Representatives
Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence
March 28, 2007

On behalf of the American Civil Liberties Union, its more than half a million members and activists, and 53 affiliates nationwide, I thank Chairman Reyes and ranking member Hoekstra for holding today’s hearing on FBI abuse of National Security Letters.

Over five years ago, in the wake of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 Congress passed the USA Patriot Act,(Uniting and Strengthening America by Providing Appropriate Tools Required to Intercept and Obstruct Terrorism Act of 2001, Pub. Law No 107-56, 115 Stat. 272 (2001)Hereinafter Patriot Act.) giving the FBI extraordinarily broad powers to secretly pry into the lives of ordinary Americans in the quest to capture foreign terrorists. One of the changes the Patriot Act made was to expand the circumstances in which National Security Letters (NSLs) could be issued so that the information sought with such letters would no longer have to pertain to an agent of a foreign power, and would no longer be limited to the subjects of FBI investigations.(Id., section 505.) An NSL is a letter that can be issued by Special Agents in Charge (SAC) of the FBI’s 56 field offices¾ without any judicial review¾ to seek records such as telephone and e-mail information, (Telephone and e-mail information that can be obtained with NSLs includes historical information on calls made to and from a particular number, billing records, electronic communication transactional records and billing records (including method of payment), and subscriber information.) financial information, and consumer credit information.

The four NSL authorizing statutes include the Electronic Communications Privacy Act,(18 U.S.C. section 2709) the Right to Financial Privacy Act, (12 U.S.C. section 3401) the Fair Credit Reporting Act, (15 U.S.C. section 1681 et seq.) and the National Security Act of 1947 (50 U.S.C. section 436(a)(1). Subsequent legislation expanded the types of institutions from which records could be sought using NSLs. The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 1996, (Pub. Law No. 104-93, section 601(a), 109 Stat. 961, codified at 15 U.S.C. section 1681u ) amended the FCRA to give the FBI authority to obtain credit header information with NSLs, and a provision of the Patriot Act, expanded this power to allow the FBI and other government agencies that investigate terrorism to obtain full credit reports. (Patriot Act section 358(g)) The Patriot Act also reduced the standard necessary to obtain information with NSLs, requiring only that an SAC certify that the records sought are “relevant” to an authorized counterterrorism or counter-intelligence investigation.

The ACLU opposed these unwarranted expansions of NSL power, and opposed making provisions of that statute permanent with the Patriot Reauthorization Act of 2005, (USA PATRIOT Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005, Pub. Law No. 109-177, 120 Stat. 192 (2006)) fearing these unnecessary and unchecked powers could be too easily abused. When Congress reauthorized the Patriot Act, it directed the Department of Justice Inspector General (IG) to review the effectiveness and use of these expanded authorities and one of the first of these reports, a review of the FBI’s use of NSLs, was released on March 9, 2007.(Office of the Inspector General, A Review of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Use of National Security Letters, March 2007, http://www.usdoj.gov/oig/reports/FBI/index.htm ) ......

[L. Coyote]

30. FBI Counsel: Statement Before the House Committee on the Judiciary

Valerie E. Caproni
General Counsel
Federal Bureau of Investigation
Statement Before the House Committee on the Judiciary
March 20, 2007 - http://www.fbi.gov/congress/congress07/caproni032007.htm


Good morning Mr. Chairman, Ranking Member Smith, and members of the Committee. It is my pleasure to appear before you today to discuss the recent report by Department of Justice's Office of the Inspector General (OIG) regarding the FBI’s use of national security letters (NSLs).

The OIG's report is a fair report that acknowledges the importance of NSLs to the ability of the FBI to conduct the national security investigations that are essential to keeping the country safe. Importantly, the OIG found no deliberate or intentional misuse of the national security letter authorities ...

Although not intentionally, we fell short in our obligations to report to Congress on the frequency with which we use this tool ...

National Security Letters

National security letters generally permit us to obtain the same sort of documents from third-party businesses that prosecutors and agents obtain in criminal investigations with grand jury subpoenas. Unlike grand jury subpoenas, however, NSL authority comes through several distinct statutes and they have specific rules that accompany them......

The NSL authority used most frequently by the FBI is that provided by the Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA). Through an ECPA NSL, the FBI can obtain subscriber information for telephones and electronic communications and can obtain toll billing information and electronic communication transaction records ... it is the most common NSL authority used.

Pursuant to the Right to Financial Privacy Act (RFPA), the FBI also has the authority to issue NSLs for financial records from a financial institution....

Pursuant to the Fair Credit Reporting Act, the FBI has the authority to issue three different, but related, types of NSLs to credit reporting agencies ... for consumer identifying information (name, address, former addresses, employment and former employment) ...

Finally, the FBI has the authority to issue NSLs pursuant to the National Security Act in the course of investigations of improper disclosure of classified information by government employees.

The first three types of NSLs (ECPA, RFPA, FCRA) must include a certification by an authorized FBI employee that the material is being sought for an authorized national security investigation ... authority to issue an NSL lies at a senior level ... not lower than Special Agent in Charge or deputy assistant director ...

[L. Coyote]

31. Testimony of Suzanne E. Spaulding: Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on The Constitution

Testimony of Suzanne E. Spaulding
April 11, 2007 - http://judiciary.senate.gov/testimony.cfm?id=2679&wit_id=6285


Before the U.S. Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on The Constitution “Responding to The Inspector General’s Findings of Improper Use of National Security Letters by the FBI”

... I have spent over twenty years working on national security issues, starting in 1984 as Senior Counsel to Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. Over those two decades, in my work at the Central Intelligence Agency, at congressional intelligence oversight committees, and as Executive Director of two different commissions on terrorism and weapons of mass destruction ...

As important as it is to examine the lessons learned from the IG Report, however, I would urge the Congress not to stop there but, rather, to take a broader approach. The various authorities for gathering information inside the United States, including the authorities in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA), should be considered and understood in relation to each other, not in isolation.

One example is the requirement in Executive Order 12333, and picked up in the FISA surveillance provisions, to use the “least intrusive collection techniques feasible.” The appropriateness of using FISA electronic surveillance to eavesdrop on Americans should be considered in light of other, less intrusive techniques ...

The IG Report notes that the Attorney General guidelines also cite the requirement to use the least intrusive techniques feasible but that there is not sufficient guidance on how to apply that in the NSL context or in conjunction with other available collection techniques. This is just one example of the need for a broader examination of domestic intelligence tools.

I would urge Congress to undertake a comprehensive review of all domestic intelligence collection, not just by FBI but also by the other national security agencies engaged in domestic intelligence collection, including the Central Intelligence Agency, the Department of Defense, and the National Security Agency ...

...the most tenuous of connections would seem to suffice for this NSL standard. For example, it’s not clear why an “investigation to protect against international terrorism” couldn’t justify demanding information about all residents of, say, Dearborn, Michigan, so that you could run them through some logarithmic profile to identify “suspicious” individuals.....

[L. Coyote]

32. HOUSE Judiciary Hearing: Nadler Demands National Security Letters/Patriot Act Abuses Fix

Nadler Demands National Security Letters/Patriot Act Abuses Fix
http://www.house.gov/list/press/ny08_nadler/NSLPatActFix032007.html


WASHINGTON, D.C. – During a Judiciary Committee hearing on the FBI's abuse of National Security Letters today, Congressman Jerrold Nadler called on Congress to amend the law to ensure that the recently revealed abuses documented by the DOJ Inspector General’s Report are not allowed to continue.

"It is not enough to mandate that the FBI fix internal management problems and record keeping, because the statute itself authorizes the unchecked collection of information on innocent Americans. Congress must act now to fix the statute authorizing the abuses revealed in the IG report and to hold those responsible for these violations accountable," said Congressman Nadler.

For years, Congressman Nadler has led the opposition to the pernicious elements of the Patriot Act and specifically has raised concerns regarding National Security Letters. In the last Congress, he introduced the Stop Self-Authorized Secret Searches Act, H.R. 2715, to prevent abuse of National Security Letters. This year, as Chairman of the Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights, and Civil Liberties, he plans to introduce legislation designed to prevent the very abuses that were raised today during the hearing. As a Co-Chair of the bipartisan Patriot Act Reform Caucus, he will continue to work with his colleagues in a bipartisan fashion to amend Section 505 of the Patriot Act which concerns National Security Letters.

His full statement follows:

"I would like to thank Chairman Conyers for holding this important hearing on the FBI abuses of National Security Letters. ......

"We are here today in response to the DOJ’s Inspector General Report that found wide-spread abuses of the FBI’s authority to issue National Security Letters.

[MissWaverly]

3. why do they always have to correct their sworn testimony

as more evidence is uncovered, then previous statements must be revised. This is so they won't be charged with lying to Congress.
Why can't they give accurate testimony when required to testify under oath. Trials rely on testimony taken under oath,
how many times do they get to "revise" their testimony, NONE, NADA, ZIP. The only ones that do this are TeamBush. Look at
Karl Rove revising his testimony to the Grand Jury afterwards.

[L. Coyote]

4. They have to consult with other witnesses, to get the story straight, and the lies too.

In Rove's case, he may have escaped indictment by changing his story. Is this why the White House is covering up the e-mails, now found and still not delivered to the Oversight committees?

[MissWaverly]

9. in the case of the NSLs, this is absurd

first there were NO, I repeat NO instances where the Patriot Act was abused to get domestic surveillance on innocent citizens,
then there was a "limited" number of instances when this occurred which was due to a misunderstanding and poor communication,
now there are thousands of instances when this occurred. It is a constantly shifting baseline. This is more than
a memory slip but a cover up. A coordinated cover-up, and this is just the NSLs not the wiretaps.

[L. Coyote]

23. "A coordinated cover-up, and this is just the NSLs not the wiretaps."

It's almost too confusing. The FBI NSLs Scandal, the NSA Illegal Wiretapping Scandal,
the NYPD Spying Scandal, the No-Knock Provision, the Military spying programs, and the
ones we don't know about. How do these guys not bump into each other in the dark?

How am I supposed to know which spies were in my house (while I was parked outside watching them)?
I'm confused, but no so confused that I would stupidly interrupt them when they sneak in!! :rofl:

[MissWaverly]

24. Since 2000, we have concentrated on Trivial Pursuit

Quick follow-up on those 80 year old folks on the "No Fly" lists and ferret out the gays in the military and don't forget the
vegeterians.

[MissWaverly]

10. must admit, I find this puzzling

also where were they "found"?

[L. Coyote]

13. Referring to the years of "lost" White House e-mails, they were "found" on the server

where they were supposed to be all along. They were backed up according to plan, and the back-up server had them all along. It seems there was some "confusion" in the Executive branch just when the Congress wanted to see the "evidence" of illegalities. Now, we know they are not "lost" and the Executive has fallen back to their next stone wall, "Sorry, you can't have them." It sure is a good thing they cleared up that "confusion" after several months in the "lost" category. We can finally move on to the latter day, more in-your-face, honest and up front "get screwed" phase.

[MissWaverly]

15. Have they found the lost Dem votes on the server too

The ones that gave the White House to the Dems, were they there too. I know it's hard to look, but they might try the file O-H-I-O
and F-L-O-R-I-D-A, 2000, or 2004, we will take both. If they have any trouble with the spelling of those hard words, they can
ask Dr. Dean, he'll make a house call.

:-)

[L. Coyote]

19. No, but we have the fingerprints on the Ohio 2004 punch card ballots.

One of the great advantages of paper ballots, they have fingerprints on them. Not so with e-voting. And we know which fingerprint belongs to which precinct. Dem votes can be put back where they belong!

[MissWaverly]

20. I would really like the 2004 results recounted

I have never believed the "results." I will never forget waiting in the hot sun to vote for 2 hours along with all those other people. And then our votes were swept in to the void for the convenience of those who wanted to continue feeding on our tax dollars. As someone has said, "they treated our treasury as their personal political piggy bank."

[tbyg52]

39. They should *not* be allowed to revise

That's why all this testimony needs to be under oath. What a bunch of scumbags.

[Supersedeas]

47. lie for as long as they can do so without getting caught

[L. Coyote]

5. Letter requesting Extensive Information about NSA Terrorist Surveillance Program

02-08-2006 -- Judiciary Committee Oversight Letter to Attorney General Gonzales
requesting Extensive Information about NSA Terrorist Surveillance Program.
http://judiciary.house.gov/media/pdfs/DOJNSA.pdf
LARGE FILE WARNING = 14 page PDF

February 8, 2006

The Honorable Alberto Gonzales
Attorney General
U.S. Department of Justice
950 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.
Washington, DC 20530

Dear Attorney General Gonzales:

As you are aware, on December 16,2005, the New York Times reported that the President
ordered the National Security Agency (NSA) to conduct warrantless wiretaps on international
communications between suspected terrorists and individuals within the United States. On
December 17,2005, the President addressed the Nation in his weekly radio address and
responded to the New York times article. President Bush explained that "To fight the war on
terror, I am using authority vested in me by Congress, including the Joint Authorization for Use
of Military Force, which passed overwhelmingly in the first week after September the 11th I'm
also using constitutional authority vested in me as Commander-in-Chief." He highlighted the
fact that this program is continuously reviewed. "The activities authorized are reviewed
approximately every 45 days. Each review is based on a fresh intelligence assessment of terrorist
threats to the continuity of our government and the threat of catastrophic damage to our
homeland. During each assessment, previous activities under the authorization are reviewed.
The review includes approval by our nation's top legal officials, including the Attorney General
and the Counsel to the President."

The Committee on the Judiciary has received two referrals of resolutions of inquiry
regarding the Department of Justice's involvement in the NSA program. As the House of
Representatives' Committee of jurisdiction over "subversive activities affecting the internal
security of the United States" under Rule X(l)(19) of the Rules of the House of Representatives,
the House Committee on the Judiciary is responsible for conducting oversight on issues or claims
of domestic surveillance. Additionally, the Committee has jurisdiction of issues related to civil
liberties under Rule X(l)(5). As part of the Committee's oversight of the use of this program,
please respond to the following questions by March 2, 2006.

Legal Authority
1. The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court of Review, as the Congressional Research
Service (CRS) concedes in its 2006 examination of the NSA program, "is a court of
appeals and is the highest court with express authority over Surveillance Act,] FISA to address the issue, its reference to inherent constitutional
authority for the President to conduct warrantless foreign intelligence surveillance might
be interpreted to carry considerable weight.,,6 The FISA Court of Review issued an
opinion in 2002 that stated "all the other courts to have decided the issue, held that the
President did have inherent authority to conduct warrantless searches to obtain foreign
intelligence information. . .. We take for granted that the President does have that
authority. ....

a. Have any courts addressed this issue since the enactment of FISA?
b. Have any courts since the enactment of FISA concluded that the President did not
have inherent authority?
c. Does reliance on pre-FISA cases by the FISA Court of Review " the
persuasive force,,9of the conclusion that the president has inherent constitutional
authority to conduct warrantless surveillance?

2. In holding that the President has inherent authority to conduct warrantless surveillance,
did any of the cases conclude this inherent authority did not arise from the Constitution?

3. Is there legal authority to support the proposition drawn from the FISA Court of Review's
decision in In re Sealed Case,10 that the President continues to have the power to
authorize warrantless electronic surveillance to gather foreign intelligence outside the
FISA framework?

========Continues for 14 pages========

---------------------------------
James Risen and Eric Lichtblau, Bush Lets u.s. Spy on Callers Without Courts, N.Y. TIMES,Dec. 16,
2005 - http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/16/politics/16program.html?ex=1292389200&en=e32070e08c623ac1&ei=5089

Radio Address of the President to the Nation, Dec. 17,2005,
http://www.whitehouse.gov/news/releases/2005/l2/20051217.html

[L. Coyote]

34. Bush Admin: has offered no example of a national security letter helping disrupt a terror plot

"The Bush administration defeated legislation and a lawsuit to require a public accounting, and has offered no example in which the use of a national security letter helped disrupt a terrorist plot."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/05/AR2005110501366.html

[ChairmanAgnostic]

37. because it is a matter of national security

to talk about national security, and besides you don't need to know. So there.

[L. Coyote]

41. Thanks. I'll unplug now. I just didn't realize, I have no need to know.

Don't they wish! :rofl: Every day more people insist on knowing the truth.

[VP505]

6. A classic

case of "I told you so", should be shoved down the throats of every RePuke and Dino that supported the Patriot Act! I remember that I as well as many bloggers were very concerned about abuses and most had the same feeling that not only could the surveillance provisions be abused, they WOULD be abused. What did we get, "OH NO" that won't happen, yada,yada!

[L. Coyote]

12. Hello Congress! When a 14" high, warm-from-the-copier bill arrives as the voting starts, THINK

about how it might be wise to read the legislation first.

I'd love to do a survey asking Members of Congress about the number of bils they have voted on without reading the proposed language. If the Members could only pass what they actually have read, legislation might vastly improve.

[MissWaverly]

21. the Patriot Act came up right after the Anthrax scare

remember that, oh, another investigation with no results. The Result was that the Congress after feeling itself under threat
passed this piece of paranoia.

[dkofos]

7. The new compliance program says try harder to not get caught!!

[L. Coyote]

46. After Watergate, they had to cover up FBI's role in Nixon's political programs"

Will we ever get the whole story on Bush's ilegal political "programs"?

[Zodiak]

8. If we fail to do anything about this

Our government has failed...utterly.

This warfare against the American citizenry has got to stop.

[MissWaverly]

11. also it is poisoning the well of our electoral process

since we know that the actions in the DOJ was to drive democrats from government posts and to suppress the Dem vote, then
it is obvious that is one of the main agendas of this current administration. It is logical to assume that was
the purpose of the warrantless wiretaps as well. It could not have been "National Security." They have never given a
cat's whisker about National Security. The border with Mexico is still not secured and What about Osama Bin Forgotten? Oh,
we had other priorities, like going to war with a country that never attacked us.

[spanone]

14. Was this a headline at New York Times or Washington Post? Naw, democracy be damned.

[L. Coyote]

16. NY TIMES: Democrats May Subpoena Eavesdropping Documents

Democrats May Subpoena Eavesdropping Documents
June 8, 2007, Friday
By JAMES RISEN (NYT); National Desk
Late Edition - Final, Section A, Page 26, Column 1, 558 words

DISPLAYING ABSTRACT - Senior House Democrats threatened Thursday to issue subpoenas to obtain secret legal opinions and other documents from the Justice Department related to the National Security Agency's domestic wiretapping program. If the Democrats take that step, it would mark the most aggressive action yet by Congress in its oversight of ... -

-----------
Congress Expands Scope of Inquiries Into Justice Department Practices and Politics
By CARL HULSE and SCOTT SHANE - http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/25/washington/25justice.html?ex=1332475200&en=12f083cfcff9e509&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

-----------
President Turns to an Insider to Negotiate on Dismissals
By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG - http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/16/washington/16fielding.html?ex=1331697600&en=7d85d1d86a9ff11b&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

-----------
U.S. Report to Fault Wide Use Of Special Subpoenas by F.B.I.
By DAVID JOHNSTON AND ERIC LIPTON (NYT); National Desk
Late Edition - Final, Section A, Page 1, Column 2, 1026 words
http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0910F739550C7A8CDDAA0894DF404482&n=Top%2fReference%2fTimes%20Topics%2fSubjects%2fU%2fUnited%20States%20Attorneys

[L. Coyote]

17. WA POST: Lawmakers Warn FBI Over Spy Power Abuse

Lawmakers Warn FBI Over Spy Power Abuse
By JULIE HIRSCHFELD DAVIS
AP - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/21/AR2007032100225.html

WASHINGTON -- Republicans and Democrats alike sternly warned the FBI on Tuesday that it risks losing its broad power to collect telephone, e-mail and financial records to hunt terrorists because of rampant abuses of the authority.

The threats were the latest blow to the embattled Justice Department and Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who is already on the defensive and fighting to keep his job over the firings of federal prosecutors.

The warnings came as the department's chief watchdog, inspector general Glenn A. Fine, told the House Judiciary Committee that the FBI engaged in widespread and serious misuse of its authority to issue national security letters, which resulted in illegally collecting data from Americans and foreigners.

If the FBI doesn't move swiftly to correct the mistakes and problems revealed last week in Fine's 130-page report, "you probably won't have NSL authority," said Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., a supporter of the power, referring to the data requests by their initials.

"I hope that this would be a lesson to the FBI that they can't get away with this and expect to maintain public support for the tools that they need to combat terrorism," said Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis., the former Judiciary chairman, who called the abuses "a gross overreach." ................

[MissWaverly]

22. They told Mueller that when he appeared in the Spring

me thinks, they are not paying attention here. The time to stop this abuse is NOW!

[L. Coyote]

18. It is on DU, and that's democracy at work. We are the Media they read!!

[Disturbed]

25. The FISA Secret Court turned down a few requests.

Do you wonder what those requests were?

I suspect a lot of off the books spying is aimed at Repubs to find out whatever dirt on them to keep them in line & on board of the Busholini Regime Master Plan.

[L. Coyote]

36. Probably requests for an entire state's phone records!

Some of these requests were very broad, to enable data mining. For example, everything in an entire town.

[L. Coyote]

26. ANON: My National Security Letter Gag Order

My National Security Letter Gag Order
Friday, March 23, 2007; Page A17
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/22/AR2007032201882.html

(It is the policy of The Washington Post not to publish anonymous pieces. In this case, an exception has been made because the author -- who would have preferred to be named -- is legally prohibited from disclosing his or her identity in connection with receipt of a national security letter. ...)

The Justice Department's inspector general revealed on March 9 that the FBI has been systematically abusing one of the most controversial provisions of the USA Patriot Act: the expanded power to issue "national security letters." It no doubt surprised most Americans to learn that between 2003 and 2005 the FBI issued more than 140,000 specific demands under this provision -- demands issued without a showing of probable cause or prior judicial approval -- to obtain potentially sensitive information about U.S. citizens and residents. It did not, however, come as any surprise to me.

Three years ago, I received a national security letter (NSL) in my capacity as the president of a small Internet access and consulting business. The letter ordered me to provide sensitive information about one of my clients. There was no indication that a judge had reviewed or approved the letter, and it turned out that none had. The letter came with a gag provision that prohibited me from telling anyone, including my client, that the FBI was seeking this information. Based on the context of the demand -- a context that the FBI still won't let me discuss publicly -- I suspected that the FBI was abusing its power and that the letter sought information to which the FBI was not entitled.

Rather than turn over the information, I contacted lawyers at the American Civil Liberties Union, and in April 2004 I filed a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the NSL power. I never released the information the FBI sought, and last November the FBI decided that it no longer needs the information ......

[L. Coyote]

27. National Security Letters Gag Patriot Act Debate = "gag" provision even more oppressive

National Security Letters Gag Patriot Act Debate
http://www.aclu.org/safefree/nationalsecurityletters/index.html


Within the Patriot Act is a "National Security Letter" provision that authorizes the FBI to demand records without prior court approval. Anyone who receives an NSL is forbidden, or "gagged," from telling anyone about the record demand.

Since the Patriot Act was authorized in 2001, it has relaxed restrictions on the FBI's use of the power, and the number of NSLs issued has seen an astronomical increase. While reports previously indicated a hundred-fold increase to 30,000 NSLs issued annually, an extraordinary March 2007 report from the Justice Department's own Inspector General puts the actual number at over 143,000 NSLs issued between 2003 and 2005. The same investigation also found serious FBI abuses of regulations and numerous potential violations of the law.

The ACLU has challenged this Patriot Act statute in court with two cases: one involving an Internet Service Provider; the second a group of librarians. In both cases, the judges ruled that the gags were unconstitutional.

After the two district court rulings, Congress amended the NSL law in March 2006. The amended law fixes some problems with the NSL statute but makes the "gag" provision even more oppressive. The ACLU has now gone back to court to challenge the constitutionality of the amended law.

[L. Coyote]

28. Challenge to the "National Security Letter" Authority

Challenge to the "National Security Letter" Authority
NEW! Redacted documents released by the ACLU March 7, 2005 (pdf) -
Letter from the Department of Justice (5/27/04) - http://www.aclu.org/nsl/legal/052704.pdf
Letter from the ACLU (5/25/04) - http://www.aclu.org/nsl/legal/51404.pdf
Amended Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief - http://www.aclu.org/nsl/legal/AmendedComplaint.pdf
MORE DOCs linked - http://www.aclu.org/safefree/patriot/17458res20040929.html

In April 2004, the American Civil Liberties Union and an anonymous Internet Service Provider (ISP) filed a lawsuit challenging the FBI's authority to issue "National Security Letters" (NSLs) ordering certain kinds of businesses to turn over sensitive customer records. Before the Patriot Act, the FBI could use NSLs to obtain records concerning suspected terrorists and spies. The Patriot Act amended the law to allow the use of NSLs to obtain information about anyone at all.

The ACLU's legal challenge argues that the amended law violates the First and Fourth Amendments because it does not impose adequate safeguards on the FBI's authority to force disclosure of sensitive and constitutionally protected information. The lawsuit also challenges the constitutionality of the statute's gag provision, which prohibits anyone who receives an NSL from disclosing even the mere fact that the FBI has sought information.

Because of the gag provision, the ACLU was forced to file the case under seal; it was three weeks before the ACLU could announce that it had challenged the law. .....

REPORT
Dangers of Government Gag Revealed - http://www.aclu.org/safefree/patriot/18491res20040819.html

PUBLICATIONS
> Unpatriotic Acts: The FBI's Power to Rifle Through Your Records Without Telling You - http://www.aclu.org/SafeandFree/SafeandFree.cfm?ID=13246&c=206
> Freedom Under Fire: Dissent in Post-9/11 America - http://www.aclu.org/safefree/resources/17281pub20031208.html
> Insatiable Appetite: The Government's Demand for Unnecessary Powers After Sept. 11 - http://www.aclu.org/safefree/resources/17042pub20021015.html

[L. Coyote]

33. In "Hunt for Terrorists" the FBI Examines Records of Ordinary Americans' Library Activities

The FBI's Secret Scrutiny - In Hunt for Terrorists, Bureau Examines Records of Ordinary Americans
By Barton Gellman - Washington Post Staff Writer - Sunday, November 6, 2005; Page A01
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/11/05/AR2005110501366.html


The FBI came calling in Windsor, Conn., this summer with a document marked for delivery by hand. On Matianuk Avenue, across from the tennis courts, two special agents found their man. They gave George Christian the letter, which warned him to tell no one, ever, what it said.

Under the shield and stars of the FBI crest, the letter directed Christian to surrender "all subscriber information, billing information and access logs of any person" who used a specific computer at a library branch some distance away. Christian, who manages digital records for three dozen Connecticut libraries, said in an affidavit that he configures his system for privacy. But the vendors of the software he operates said their databases can reveal the Web sites that visitors browse, the e-mail accounts they open and the books they borrow.

Christian refused to hand over those records, and his employer, Library Connection Inc., filed suit for the right to protest the FBI demand in public. The Washington Post established their identities -- still under seal in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the 2nd Circuit -- by comparing unsealed portions of the file with public records and information gleaned from people who had no knowledge of the FBI demand.

The Connecticut case affords a rare glimpse of an exponentially growing practice of domestic surveillance under the USA Patriot Act ....

[L. Coyote]

35. Expansion of "National Security Letters" Gives Unaccountable Power to FBI

Expansion of "National Security Letters" Gives Unaccountable Power to FBI
by Kim Zetter - January 6, 2004 by Wired.com - http://reclaimdemocracy.org/articles_2004/national_security_letters.html

While the nation was distracted last month by images of Saddam Hussein's spider hole and dental exam, President George W. Bush quietly signed into law a new bill that gives the FBI increased surveillance powers and dramatically expands the reach of the USA Patriot Act.

The Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2004 grants the FBI unprecedented power to obtain records from financial institutions without requiring permission from a judge.

Under the law, the FBI does not need to seek a court order to access such records, nor does it need to prove just cause.

Previously, under the Patriot Act, the FBI had to submit subpoena requests to a federal judge. Intelligence agencies and the Treasury Department, however, could obtain some financial data from banks, credit unions and other financial institutions without a court order or grand jury subpoena if they had the approval of a senior government official.

The new law (see Section 374 of the act), however, lets the FBI acquire these records through an administrative procedure whereby an FBI field agent simply drafts a so-called national security letter stating the information is relevant to a national security investigation.

And the law broadens the definition of "financial institution" to include such businesses as insurance companies, travel agencies, real estate agents, stockbrokers, the U.S. Postal Service and even jewelry stores, casinos and car dealerships. ....

[19jet54]

38. Abolish the Patriot Act...

... it should be un-Constitutional anyway - Domestic Government Terrorist Act would be a better name!

[sicksicksick_N_tired]

40. Why,...why why WHY give pathological liars & power-abusers the benefit of the doubt?

I think very highly of Congressman Conyers but, damnit, please, DO NOT IMPLY that this administration had any credibility, whatsoever, when it asserted no violations!!!

There is AMPLE evidence these neocon effers have committed NUMEROUS crimes!!!

There is AMPLE evidence only Libby will be charged while the rest of the most egregious offenders of our Constitution and our laws will walk, completely free to continue their abuses!!!



:banghead:

[L. Coyote]

42. US District Court orders FBI to release approximately 100,000 pages of NSL documents

Saturday, June 16, 2007
Federal court orders FBI to release national security letter documents
Michael Sung at 10:59 AM ET
http://jurist.law.pitt.edu/paperchase/2007/06/federal-court-orders-fbi-to-release.php

The US District Court for the District of Colombia Friday ordered (PDF text - http://www.eff.org/flag/nsl/bates_order.pdf ) the Federal Bureau of Investigation to release approximately 100,000 pages of documents detailing the FBI's use of national security letters (NSL) pursuant to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request by the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF). The order set a July 5 deadline for the Department of Justice (DOJ) and the FBI to begin releasing documents to the EFF, and ordered the DOJ and FBI to release an additional 2500 pages of documents every 30 days thereafter. The EFF submitted its FOIA request on March 12, but sued the FBI in April after the FBI's failure to respond. The EFF is seeking to conduct an independent investigation of the FBI's improper use of NSLs, revealed in March by a DOJ review.

[L. Coyote]

43. "FBI agents abused a Patriot Act power more than 1,000 times" 47,000 NSLs in 2005

Judge Orders FBI to Turn Over Thousands of Patriot Act Abuse Documents
By Ryan Singel - June 15, 2007
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2007/06/judge_orders_fb.html

... FBI agents abused a Patriot Act power more than 1,000 times ... extremely secretive investigative tool that can pry into telephone and internet records.

... documents related to its misuse of National Security Letters, self-issued subpoenas that don't need a judge's approval ... FBI agents issued more than 47,000 in 2005, more than half of which targeted Americans

... agents issued more than 700 "expedited" letters, some containing materially false sworn statements. These letters had no legal basis and essentially asked companies to turn over data by pretending there was an emergency in order to get the data necessary to get a proper NSL. One former FBI agent says its clear the FBI violated the law ...

THREAT LEVEL can't wait to see:

1. All records discussing or reporting violations or potential violations of statutes, Attorney General guidelines, and internal FBI policies governing the use of NSLs, including, but not limited to ......

[L. Coyote]

44. More READING: Archived DU Domestic Spying Threads

======ARCHIVED DU ========
DIA SPYING: NGIA collecting data, 133 U.S. cities, ID everyone, nationality, political affiliations
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x983282

Campaign 2004: Were Bush / Cheney / NSA illegal wiretaps spying on Dems?
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x925247

====BUSH SCANDALS========
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x899312

[L. Coyote]

45. U.S. attorneys saga exposes weakened Justice Department independence

U.S. attorneys saga exposes weakened Justice Department independence
By Marisa Taylor and Margaret Talev
McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/newssentinel/news/editorial/17386647.htm

WASHINGTON - The investigations into the Bush administration's decision to fire nine U.S. attorneys have exposed how the administration has eroded the firewall between partisan politics and the Justice Department and compromised the independence of the nation's top law enforcement agency.

As early as 2002, administration policymakers, Republican legislators and GOP party officials began injecting politics into criminal investigations and civil and voting rights enforcement and applying political litmus tests to judges and career lawyers at the Justice Department.

A McClatchy Newspapers analysis of thousands of Justice Department documents, congressional testimony and interviews with current and former Justice Department officials reveals that the administration: ........

"We have a Justice Department that has substantially been turned into a political arm of the White House," said Bruce Fein, a constitutional lawyer and a Justice Department official in the Reagan administration, who's become one of the conservative movement's fiercest critics of the president.

"To elicit confidence in the legitimacy of law enforcement, you have to at least create the appearance to the public that prosecutorial decisions and high-level personnel decisions do not pivot on political affiliation," .....

[Disturbed]

48. "FBI agents abused a Patriot Act power more than 1,000 times."

Will any of the FBI Agents be held accountable? Will they be fired? Will they be charged with crimes?

[L. Coyote]

49. When the police are criminals, we all need to police.

[L. Coyote]

50. Judge Lamberth, FISA chief, Criticizes President Bush’s Wiretap Program

Judge Criticizes Wiretap Program
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: June 24, 2007
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/24/washington/24judge.html


WASHINGTON, June 23 (AP) — A federal judge who used to authorize wiretaps in terrorist and espionage cases on Saturday criticized President Bush’s decision to order warrantless surveillance after the Sept. 11 attacks.

The judge, Royce C. Lamberth of federal district court in Washington, said it was proper for executive branch agencies to conduct such surveillances. “But what we have found in the history of our country is that you can’t trust the executive,” he said at a convention of the American Library Association.

Judge Lamberth, who was appointed by President Ronald Reagan, disagreed with letting the executive branch alone decide which people to spy on in security cases.

“The executive has to fight and win the war at all costs,” he said. “But judges understand the war has to be fought, but it can’t be at all costs.” He added: “We still have to preserve our civil liberties. Judges are the kinds of people you want to entrust that kind of judgment to more than the executive.”

Judge Lamberth was named chief of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court in 1995 by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist. He held that post until 2002.