The FBI's Secret Scrutiny

POSTED BY: R1Z
UPDATED: Saturday, July 3, 2021 18:51
VIEWED: 1991
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R1Z

Sunday, November 6, 2005 8:49 PM

washingtonpost.com
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; A01

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, which marked its fourth anniversary on Oct. 26. "National security letters," created in the 1970s for espionage and terrorism investigations, originated as narrow exceptions in consumer privacy law, enabling the FBI to review in secret the customer records of suspected foreign agents. The Patriot Act, and Bush administration guidelines for its use, transformed those letters by permitting clandestine scrutiny of U.S. residents and visitors who are not alleged to be terrorists or spies.

The FBI now issues more than 30,000 national security letters a year, according to government sources, a hundredfold increase over historic norms. The letters -- one of which can be used to sweep up the records of many people -- are extending the bureau's reach as never before into the telephone calls, correspondence and financial lives of ordinary Americans.

Issued by FBI field supervisors, national security letters do not need the imprimatur of a prosecutor, grand jury or judge. They receive no review after the fact by the Justice Department or Congress. The executive branch maintains only statistics, which are incomplete and confined to classified reports. 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.

The burgeoning use of national security letters coincides with an unannounced decision to deposit all the information they yield into government data banks -- and to share those private records widely, in the federal government and beyond. In late 2003, the Bush administration reversed a long-standing policy requiring agents to destroy their files on innocent American citizens, companies and residents when investigations closed. Late last month, President Bush signed Executive Order 13388, expanding access to those files for "state, local and tribal" governments and for "appropriate private sector entities," which are not defined.

National security letters offer a case study of the impact of the Patriot Act outside the spotlight of political debate. Drafted in haste after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, the law's 132 pages wrought scores of changes in the landscape of intelligence and law enforcement. Many received far more attention than the amendments to a seemingly pedestrian power to review "transactional records." But few if any other provisions touch as many ordinary Americans without their knowledge.

SIGNYM

Wednesday, November 30, 2005 7:48 PM

Quote:
National security letters," created in the 1970s for espionage and terrorism investigations, originated as narrow exceptions in consumer privacy law, enabling the FBI to review in secret the customer records of suspected foreign agents. The Patriot Act, and Bush administration guidelines for its use, transformed those letters by permitting clandestine scrutiny of U.S. residents and visitors who are not alleged to be terrorists or spies.

I just love the Patriot Act- don't you?

---------------------------------
Please don't think they give a shit.

RUE

Thursday, December 1, 2005 3:44 AM

BUSH! BUSH!
He's our man!
If he can't do it,
No one can!

Where are Bush's cheerleaders now?

Nearly everything I know I learned by the grace of others.

HERO

Thursday, December 1, 2005 4:34 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by rue:
Where are Bush's cheerleaders now?

Most of us are earning a living at home or fighting for their country abroad. They have better things to do then stand in a ditch in Crawford, stand around and bitch in Washington, or obstruct the FBI's reasonable efforts to protect us from the people who see explosives as a fashion accessory.

I for one see nothing wrong with the FBI poking around. But then I'm a Prosecutor and have nothing to hide. But I bet they've got your name...in fact, I'll make sure they do...now where did I put my 'Vast Right Wing Conspiracy Decoder Ring/Bottle Opener'.

H

CHRISISALL

Thursday, December 1, 2005 6:06 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Hero:
now where did I put my 'Vast Right Wing Conspiracy Decoder Ring/Bottle Opener'.

Right next to that night table, you know, the one with the bug on it that looks like the end of a screw? And speaking of screw, nothing's private anymore, right?

Chrisisall

HERO

Thursday, December 1, 2005 6:29 PM

Originally posted by chrisisall:

Quote:
And speaking of screw, nothing's private anymore, right?

What makes you think anything was ever private. I don't see the word privacy in the Constitution. That said, I agree that a Right to Privacy is implied by the Bill of Rights. However, like EVERY OTHER RIGHT we have, it can be suspended or usurped if there is a compelling govt interest (et all) and a sprinkle of due process.

People blowing themselves up in a shopping mall on Christmas Eve is a compelling govt interest (and good TV).

H

SIGNYM

Thursday, December 1, 2005 8:37 PM

Quote:
Where are Bush's cheerleaders now?

They're busy organizing pyramids to cheer the troops.

---------------------------------
Please don't think they give a shit.

CHRISISALL

Sunday, December 4, 2005 3:01 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Hero:
However, like EVERY OTHER RIGHT we have, it can be suspended or usurped

Hey, there's a movie here.

HERO, THE USURPER!
Legends from The Patriot Act

Starring Vin Deisel as 'Hero'
Screenplay by Richard Cheney
Directed by Oliver Stone

Read the New Republic paperback

DTS in select theatres

CHRISISALL

Monday, December 5, 2005 7:25 PM

Dude, no reply?
Come on, it was a little funny, right?

Chrisisall

HERO

Monday, December 5, 2005 8:28 PM

Originally posted by chrisisall:

Quote:

Starring Vin Deisel as 'Hero'

Now your making sense. Sometimes its like looking in a mirror. If you squint and apply liberal doses of adult beverage (or conservative doses if you prefer) then I look just like Vin Diesel. A shorter, fatter, bearded Vin Diesel with glasses, but still I hear it all the time: "Hey Vin Diesel! Oh, sorry man, you look just like him."

The question isn't who would play me in the movie. After all, talk of my life in pictures, has been going on ever since FOX abruptly cancelled my TV Show. The question is will there be a sequel.

H

HERO

Monday, December 5, 2005 8:32 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by chrisisall:
Dude, no reply?
Come on, it was a little funny, right?

Chrisisall

Somebody's feeling needy.

Truth is, it was a little funny. Emphasis on "LITTLE". But I'm sure you hear about how little it is all the time. I didn't want to be rude and point and laugh.

H

CHRISISALL

Monday, December 5, 2005 9:45 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Hero:
But I'm sure you hear about how little it is all the time. I didn't want to be rude and point and laugh.

You want a war you can't win?
If you come after me again, don't forget one thing. A good supply of body-bags.

Chrisis"Rambo"all

JAYNEZTOWN

Saturday, July 3, 2021 6:51 PM

How rotten are the roots??

Was Hoover a pedo masonic homosexual that was blackmialed by the globalist Mob?

FBI agent arrested for numerous child sex crimes was in charge of investigating crimes against children
https://leoaffairs.com/fbi-agent-arrested-for-numerous-child-sex-crime
s-was-in-charge-of-investigating-crimes-against-children/