Posted on 10/24/2005 3:02:03 PM PDT by TChris
The FBI has conducted clandestine surveillance on some U.S. residents for as long as 18 months at a time without proper paperwork or oversight, according to previously classified documents to be released today.
Records turned over as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit also indicate that the FBI has investigated hundreds of potential violations related to its use of secret surveillance operations, which have been stepped up dramatically since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks but are largely hidden from public view.
In one case, FBI agents kept an unidentified target under surveillance for at least five years -- including more than 15 months without notifying Justice Department lawyers after the subject had moved from New York to Detroit. An FBI investigation concluded that the delay was a violation of Justice guidelines and prevented the department "from exercising its responsibility for oversight and approval of an ongoing foreign counterintelligence investigation of a U.S. person."
In other cases, agents obtained e-mails after a warrant expired, seized bank records without proper authority and conducted an improper "unconsented physical search," according to the documents.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Don't worry, we've been assured that the PATRIOT act hasn't been and can't be used by FBI in an abusive way (and, therefore, we should allow it's reauthorization without concern or hesitation).
I hope I get to see comments from those Freepers who don't mnd giving the government more power under the guise of keeping us 'safe'.
Don't worry, we've been assured that the PATRIOT act hasn't been and can't be used by FBI in an abusive way
In the article it states:
In one case, FBI agents kept an unidentified target under surveillance for at least five years
and gives the timeframe for the cases involved as
cases from 2002 to 2004
Meaning the five year investigation had to have started during the Clinton administration.
Making a very simple check, the Patriot Act was signed into law on October 25, 2001, so the particular violations are not necessarily related to it in any way. In fact, the body that investigated the allegations, the "Intelligence Oversight Board, an arm of the President's Foreign Intelligence Advisory Board that is charged with examining violations of the laws and directives governing clandestine surveillance" is a product of the protections built into the Patriot Act for allowing review of alleged or potential violations.
Now, the accuser, in this case, David Sobel, of EPIC, at first glance appears to be the ACLUs captive geek lawyer. I will research him a bit, but this strikes me as a very suspect and self serving spin piece, not a realistic depiction of what's going on.
Can anyone say Gorelick?
We all, with nothing to fear via thoughts of terrorist actions, already have been nailed, fingerprinted, checked, and cleared from the scrutiny of concern.
So who is left to take offense to such measures?
Used car salesmen or the like, or RPG salesmen or the like?
Washington Post...hmmm....
If the government wants to listen in on my phone, read my e-mail, watch my bank account of rifle my dirty underwear drawer they are going to become very bored very quickly.
I do not fear my governments treachery; I do however fear their incompetence.
We must not let our enemies use our freedoms to destroy us, which is actually what the left and the ACLU are trying to do.
In the eyes of a future Pres Hillary Clinton, just being a freeper will be considered "doing something wrong"
The correct way to look at government power is to ask "how will this power be used by a corrupt administration?"
The problem is not what they know, it's what they do with the info.
A few years back, I applied for my concealed handgun carry permit. The lady in the sheriffs office chose to call up my employer (who I had to list on the application) and ask the president's secretary what the company policy was about employees having carry licenses. Fortunately, the secretary and her husband both carry, so it was no big deal, but it could have been otherwise.
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