Not-so shocking news: FBI misused Patriot Act to get information

[AndyMarquisLIVE]

WASHINGTON - The FBI improperly and, in some cases, illegally used the USA Patriot Act to secretly obtain personal information about people in the United States, a Justice Department audit concluded Friday.

And for three years the FBI has underreported to Congress how often it forced businesses to turn over the customer data, the audit found.

FBI agents sometimes demanded the data without proper authorization, according to the 126-page audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn Fine. At other times, the audit found, the FBI improperly obtained telephone records in non-emergency circumstances.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11100916/

 

[RadioPatrol]

damn this sux .........

sigh ..... just goes to show, however altruistic man / men wish to be while governing there fellow citizens any power give is a power someone will abuse ....

Oh and I so love the FBI Dir's Explanation ..........

 

[SamSpade]

Here's the part I can't figure out, because I heard something like this all day yesterday - that records were done badly, poor bookkeeping - but as that article mentions as well, no evidence of criminal activity on the part of the FBI agents. From what I can tell, it's not that they just spied on whomever they wanted, but that they didn't always complete the full amount of paperwork required. And not in the manner of of, didn't get a warrant type of stuff; more like, didn't follow policy.

It looks more like due to the Patriot Act, the amount of paper required is a dozen times higher than it used to be, and instead of filling out 20 forms they only did 19.

At least, that's how it looks when I read what they're mentioning. Can anybody bring up a more egregious misuse?

 

[vraiblonde]

My reaction this story is...so?

Bureaucracy is what prevents these folks from being able to do their jobs, and I'm all for paring that crap down when it comes to law enforcement.

"You, Mr. Terrorist, are accused of plotting to blow up the White House."
"Oh yeah? Well YOU didn't fill out the proper paperwork, so nyah!"

It's crazy.

 

[Idiot]

In 2005 alone, the audit found, the FBI issued more than 19,000 such letters, amounting to 47,000 separate requests for information.

Can anyone cite one successful prosecution as a result? What about charges?

Fine found that FBI agents used national security letters without citing an authorized investigation, claimed "exigent" circumstances that did not exist in demanding information and did not have adequate documentation to justify the issuance of letters.

...that article mentions as well, no evidence of criminal activity on the part of the FBI agents.

Do you think the IRS would consider it "criminal activity" if on my tax forms I claimed circumstances that do not exist?