Friday, March 09, 2007
JB
The Justice Department Inspector General's Office now reports (
here and
here) that the FBI abused the administrative subpoena process, by which FBI agents can demand personal records without having to appear before a neutral magistrate. This is
not the first time that the FBI's practices
have come under scrutiny.
As usual with bad news from the Bush Administration, this material comes out on Friday in order to dampen media coverage. From the
New York Times:
The F.B.I. has improperly used provisions of the USA Patriot Act to obtain thousands of telephone, business and financial records without prior judicial approval, the Justice Department’s inspector general said today in a report that embarrassed the F.B.I. and ignited outrage on Capitol Hill.
Snip…
Under the USA Patriot Act, the bureau has issued more than 20,000 demands for information known as national security letters. The report concluded that the program lacks effective management, monitoring, and reporting procedures.
You may recall that one of the effects of the USA Patriot Act was to ease the standards for obtaining records without a warrant. By easing the standards for issuing national security letters, it became even more imperative for someone outside the executive branch to make sure that these new powers were not being misused. However, you may also recall that one of the Bush Administration's infamous
signing statements maintained that the Administration could refuse to provide information to Congress necessary for oversight of the FBI's use of national security letters under the USA Patriot Act.
I suspect it is time for a little Congressional oversight.
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