Documents Obtained by EFF Reveal FBI Patriot Act Abuses

[kpete]

Source: Electronic Frontier

MARCH 31ST, 2011
Documents Obtained by EFF Reveal FBI Patriot Act Abuses
Deeplink by Mark Rumold

In yesterday's Senate Judiciary Hearing, "Oversight of the Federal Bureau of Investigation," FBI Director Robert Mueller testified about the Bureau's desire to extend three expiring provisions of the USA PATRIOT Act -- PATRIOT Section 215, authorizing secret court orders for the Internet and financial records of innocent Americans; the "lone wolf" wiretapping provision, which unconstitutionally allows foreign intelligence investigators to bypass traditional wiretapping protections and spy on people inside the U.S. who have no link to any foreign organization; and the "John Doe" roving wiretaps provision, which allows blank-check wiretapping orders that don't identify the suspect or the particular phone or Internet connections to be tapped.

During the question and answer portion of Mueller's testimony, Senator Grassley asked the FBI Director: have "any of these three provisions been subject to any negative reports of finding abuse?" Mueller responded, "I'm not aware of any." Well, Director Mueller -- EFF is aware of some.

As part of EFF's FLAG Project, we issued a FOIA request for records of intelligence violations stemming from the FBI's use of the expiring provisions of the PATRIOT Act. In the FBI's response to our request, we uncovered evidence of multiple reports of violations (pdf); https://www.eff.org/files/filenode/patriot_records/PIOB%20Matters-3.pdf however, in typical FBI fashion, the reports are almost entirely redacted. As a result, the details of most of the violations remain secret. Nevertheless, by comparing the FBI's response to our PATRIOT Act request with the Bureau's response to another EFF FOIA request, the murky details of at least one violation involving PATRIOT provisions became clear: FBI agents, using a "John Doe" roving wiretap, monitored the conversations of "young children" for "approximately" five days.

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Read more: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2011/03/documents-obtained-eff-reveal-fbi-patriot-act

[ixion]

1. which is why the unPATRIOTic Act needs to be repealed

post haste.

[AtheistCrusader]

2. Impossible. No American would EVER abuse this sort of legislation.

It's simply unthinkable.

[ThomCat]

3. As long as they hide their abuses, they will always deny them.

The government will never, ever admit that they are spying until we can prove it.

But they will do everything to prevent us from getting the information to prove it.

I'm pretty sure that would include spying upon anyone they think is trying to prove it so they'll know what proof anyone does or doesn't yet have.

Of course, Obama is going to insist that it's not happening. Just like he has been insisting all along that the US doesn't torture, and doesn't condone or support torture, while we're doing it to Manning, and doing it at Bagram, and handing people over routinely in Iraq who we know will be tortured. Just like he has been insisting that he respects the rule of law while having tribunals with rigged rules, and he has been having peace activists held indefinitely without charges, and he has been on vindictive crusades against whistle-blowers throughout his administration for trying to get the administration to really uphold the law.

No, Obama definitely isn't going to admit to anything. He'll support the spying as long as possible because it represents government power. And by supporting it he'll probably think it makes him look tough against the only people he really likes to kick, the American people on left who care about their rights. :(

You have to wonder how proud he is that half of the bill of rights is effectively dead on his watch. x(

[Angry Dragon]

4. Welcome comrade to the New Police State

When I was growing up I heard we were fighting the communists because of these very things........

[davidthegnome]

5. The link doesn't work

[glinda]

6. That's it! Murdoch works for the FBI

[hootinholler]

9. Wrong way around

The FBI works for Murdoch.

-Hoot

[glinda]

10. Both right.

[Solly Mack]

7. There are also past reports of multiple abuses...that made the news.

From 2007
FBI abused Patriot Act powers, audit finds

2004-2007
Civil Liberties Violations

2010
FBI 'fabricated terror emergencies to get phone records'


FBI Broke Law to Search Phone Records


and there are even more news stories

[No Elephants]

8. No one in Congress or the WH could ever have imagined FBI abuses of that Act.