FBI Admits Secretly Searching Mayfield Home -

Korin 6 News ^ | 3/30/2005 | AP

[Elmo Lincoln]

PORTLAND -- FBI agents used provisions of the USA Patriot Act during their investigation last year of a Portland attorney who was wrongly jailed for two weeks on suspicion of involvement in the Madrid train bombings, according to a Justice Department letter. The Patriot Act allows for covert searches of homes, without conventional search warrants.

Brandon Mayfield (pictured) was jailed last May after his fingerprint was incorrectly matched to one found on a bag of detonators near the scene of the Madrid attack, which killed 191 people. He was released after the FBI admitted its mistake.......

Michael Greenberger, a former Justice Department official in charge of counterterrorism, said he believes the Justice Department letter is the first time the U.S. government has acknowledged using the so-called "sneak and peek" provision of the Patriot Act."

[Blzbba]

What a wonderful country this will be when a Democrat president gets ahold of this beauty of a law!!



[/sarcasm

[Sidebar Moderator]

Do you have a link for this?

[Elmo Lincoln]

Sorry:

http://www.koin.com/news.asp?RECORD_KEY%5Bnews%5D=ID&ID%5Bnews%5D=1889

[ConservativeMind]

That is my concern and has been from its start.

We can "trust" President Bush. We couldn't "trust" President Clinton.

[Sidebar Moderator]

thank you
Please try to put the links in the next time

[gridlock]

We should never give the President any power that we would not want Hillary! to wield one day...

[OXENinFLA]

From what I recall Mayfield was the lawyer of other terrorists, right?

[Banach-Tarski]

I agree, partly...Former President Clinton could not be trusted, although he did have a number of successful policies, the patriot act could have been a dangerous weapon under the Clinton administration. Unfortunately, the Bush administration has lost my trust due to its continued refusal to enforce America's borders and a seemingly inexplicable post-election backpedaling on other so-called 'conservative' issues. I agree that the Patriot can be extremely useful in the investigation/prosecution of foreign nationals, seditious individuals, and terrorists - and snooping/pooping is a time-honored governmental tradition. Regardless of any patriot act provisions, the federal government will sneak+peek whenever it wishes, legal or not. Keep that in mind.

[af_vet_rr]

What a wonderful country this will be when a Democrat president gets ahold of this beauty of a law!!

What do you expect, this country only cares about the here and now. No Republican who supported the PATRIOT act gave a single thought to what happens when the lefties occupy the White House again.

[enraged]

CORRECT, THIS GUY WAS UP TO OR SYMPATHETIC TO THEIR CAUSE.

[eno_]

And the FBI bungled this case, and will likely end up settling a lawsuit that makes this guy set for life. Wheee! Just what we all need.

The PATRIOT Act is a bad idea for a Republican administration and it will be a disaster in the hands of a Democrat DoJ.

[t_skoz]

In my opinion, you can't trust anyone in government.

That's why laws such as these are so dangerous.

[crazyhorse691]

This is not a case of gestapo thugs hiding in a dark alley ready to invade your home to see what you had for breakfast! Through a technicians error a fingerprint was i.d.ed as belonging to Mayfield. The field agents found a connection to a mosque that had been home to 6 other convicted terrorists. The FBI found no other evidence of wrongdoing and when the mistake with the fingerprints was discovered, the charges were dropped. The Patriot Act was used appropriately in this case of terrorism. The problem was the fingerprints; guess we should outlaw fingerprints so as to protect the rights of one against the rights of many.

[robertpaulsen]

"The letter provides new details about the investigation against Mayfield, stating that agents seized three hard drives, 10 DNA samples preserved on cotton swabs and took 335 digital photographs of personal effects in his home."

That's sneak and peek??

More like barge in and stare.

[enots]

Congress just spent an estimated $185 million building the FBI a new lab.

So you think the idiots at the FBI should be given a pass for not being able to read fingerprints involving what appears to be a case of national security ?

[crazyhorse691]

So you think the idiots at the FBI should be given a pass for not being able to read fingerprints involving what appears to be a case of national security ?

---

FBI screwed up. I was addressing more the issue of the secret search under the Patriot Act than the FBIs culpability. The FBI organization should be held accountable for screwups.

[itsahoot]

We can "trust" President Bush. We couldn't "trust" President Clinton.

The law makes no difference they still have the FBI files that they stole, and the IRS audited every outspoken conservative, even Paula, who filed a short form.

[Cold Heart]

I hope the value of the intelligence gathered is worth the cost of paying off Mayfield. Maybe they can get him when he trys to funnel his winnings to a known terrorist organization. He will probably launder it through cair though.

I'm not totally convinced the fingerprint thingy was an error. Portland government is sympathetic to terrorists and is not cooperating with the federal anti-terrorist task force. The new mayor wants to have clearances so he can go fishing in the intelligence data and warn his leftist buddies when they are being investigated.

Portland, all around anti-American city