http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-2/117411498876180.xml&coll=6Tighten up security subpoenas
Saturday, March 17, 2007
Congressional oversight of the FBI's growing use of a Patriot Act provision to obtain private information about American citizens must be stepped up. The agency's use of so called "national security letters" is more widespread than previously believed or reported. And a recent audit revealing the FBI's misuse of the letters to gain access to people's confidential records gives lawmakers extra incentive to more closely monitor the process or throttle it back.
The security letters are part of the USA Patriot Act passed by Congress five weeks after the Sept. 11 terror attacks and extended last year. The letters function as subpoenas that allow FBI agents to secretly obtain information such as telephone, Internet, business, medical and financial records without going through a judge or grand jury. That's justified when speed is essential to an investigation. But a report by the Justice Department's inspector general found such letters had been overly and improperly used to obtain personal data when no emergency existed. The number of letters issued also was seriously underreported to Congress.
Before the 2001 attacks, such letters were used in dozens of other federal investigations, including health-care fraud, child sex abuse, toxic waste dumping and drug probes. The Patriot Act added terrorism to the authorized list. And prior to 2001, only the FBI director or his deputy had the authority to sign such letters. The widening of that power to include FBI agents in field offices, logically, has resulted in an expansion of their use. Some excessive use apparently has come along, too.
According to the inspector general, the number of national security letter requests increased from 8,500 in 2000 to approximately 47,000 in 2005. Between 2003 and 2006, approximately 143,000 security letters were issued involving nearly 25,000 Americans and 27,000 foreigners living in the United States. The Justice Department told Congress in 2005, that the government made 9,254 national security letter requests concerning U.S. residents. The inspector general report found that figure was thousands less than it actually sought.
That revelation has angered some in Congress, notably Rep. Pete Hoekstra, R-Holland, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee. He's concerned that the underreporting is part of a larger pattern of notification failures by executive branch agencies to Congress. He has asked House Intelligence Chairman Silvestre Reyes, D-Texas, to convene a committee hearing on the accountability of the administration under the law to provide Congress timely and accurate information.
The Patriot Act is a necessary national protection, supposed to help defend against terrorists and prevent new attacks on America. Provisions such as national security letters are similarly warranted, but they have to be carefully used so as not to needlessly violate individual privacy. Congress is supposed to get twice a year reports on security letter requests. Maybe a more frequent timetable is needed to keep an eye on the FBI.
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