Lawmakers Threaten FBI Over Spy Powers

[babylonsister]

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/huff-wires/20070320/national-security-letters

Lawmakers Threaten FBI Over Spy Powers

MICHAEL J. SNIFFEN | AP | March 20, 2007 12:57 PM EST


WASHINGTON — Republicans and Democrats sternly warned the FBI on Tuesday that it could lose its broad power to collect telephone, e-mail and financial records to hunt terrorists after revelations of widespread abuses of the authority detailed in a recent internal investigation.

Their threats came as the Justice Department's chief watchdog, Glenn A. Fine, told a House panel that the FBI engaged in widespread and serious misuse of its authority in illegally collecting the information from Americans and foreigners through so-called national security letters.

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.

"From the attorney general on down, you should be ashamed of yourself," said Rep. Darrell Issa, R-Calif. "We stretched to try to give you the tools necessary to make America safe, and it is very, very clear that you've abused that trust."

If Congress revokes some of the expansive law enforcement powers it granted in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks, Issa said, "America may be less safe, but the Constitution will be more secure, and it will be because of your failure to deal with this in a serious fashion."

The FBI's failure to establish sufficient controls or oversight for collecting the information constituted "serious and unacceptable" failures, Fine told the committee.

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[rcbarron]

1. Dems need the FBI on friendly terms

This is a good opp to get FBI to come clean with dems about the Bush administrations efforts to spy on citizens...maybe an olive branch with them would do more good at this juncture.