February 11, 2009 5:13 PM
- Text
FBI Illegally Used Patriot Act, Audit Says
(CBS/AP)
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 underreported to Congress how often it forced businesses to turn over the customer data, the audit found.
FBI Director Robert Mueller said he was to blame for not putting more safeguards into place.
"I am to be held accountable," Mueller said. He told reporters he would correct the problems and did not plan to resign.
"The inspector general went and did the audit that I should have put in place many years ago," Mueller said.
The audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine found that FBI agents sometimes demanded personal data on individuals without proper authorization. The 126-page audit also found the FBI improperly obtained telephone records in non-emergency circumstances.
Still, "we believe the improper or illegal uses we found involve serious misuses of national security letter authorities," the audit concludes.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who oversees the FBI, said the problems outlined in the report involved no intentional wrongdoing. In remarks prepared for delivery to privacy officials late Friday, Gonzales said: "In many cases, we're talking about people taking shortcuts, people being sloppy, people not knowing what was required of them; insufficient oversight, quite frankly."
He added, "There is no excuse for the mistakes that have been made, and we are going to make things right as quickly as possible."
The White House says President Bush still believes the Patriot Act is a "critical and effective tool" in the war on terror despite the report, reports CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer. Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino said Mr. Bush "expressed significant concern over the seriousness of the issues" but that the president "was relieved to learn the Inspector General found no instances of intentional misconduct."
At issue are the security letters, a power outlined in the Patriot Act that the Bush administration pushed through Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. The letters, or administrative subpoenas, are used in suspected terrorism and espionage cases. They allow the FBI to require telephone companies, Internet service providers, banks, credit bureaus and other businesses to produce highly personal records about their customers or subscribers — without a judge's approval.
The FBI has sent tens of thousands of such letters, reports CBS News correspondent Thalia Assuras.
Librarian George Christian received one. "To receive a request like this — to help spy on someone and then remain silent about it forever — it was chilling," he said.
Cindy Cohn, legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the government, in general, needs to return to information gathering methods used prior to the Patriot Act.
The FBI must "limit these very powerful tools to situations in which the government is actually tracking suspected terrorists or spies," Cohn told CBS News Radio.
And for three years the FBI underreported to Congress how often it forced businesses to turn over the customer data, the audit found.
FBI Director Robert Mueller said he was to blame for not putting more safeguards into place.
"I am to be held accountable," Mueller said. He told reporters he would correct the problems and did not plan to resign.
"The inspector general went and did the audit that I should have put in place many years ago," Mueller said.
The audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine found that FBI agents sometimes demanded personal data on individuals without proper authorization. The 126-page audit also found the FBI improperly obtained telephone records in non-emergency circumstances.
The audit blames agent error and shoddy recordkeeping for the bulk of the problems; it did not find any indication of criminal misconduct.
Dept. Of Justice Report On FBI Business Records
Still, "we believe the improper or illegal uses we found involve serious misuses of national security letter authorities," the audit concludes.
Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who oversees the FBI, said the problems outlined in the report involved no intentional wrongdoing. In remarks prepared for delivery to privacy officials late Friday, Gonzales said: "In many cases, we're talking about people taking shortcuts, people being sloppy, people not knowing what was required of them; insufficient oversight, quite frankly."
He added, "There is no excuse for the mistakes that have been made, and we are going to make things right as quickly as possible."
The White House says President Bush still believes the Patriot Act is a "critical and effective tool" in the war on terror despite the report, reports CBS News White House correspondent Peter Maer. Deputy Press Secretary Dana Perino said Mr. Bush "expressed significant concern over the seriousness of the issues" but that the president "was relieved to learn the Inspector General found no instances of intentional misconduct."
At issue are the security letters, a power outlined in the Patriot Act that the Bush administration pushed through Congress after the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks. The letters, or administrative subpoenas, are used in suspected terrorism and espionage cases. They allow the FBI to require telephone companies, Internet service providers, banks, credit bureaus and other businesses to produce highly personal records about their customers or subscribers — without a judge's approval.
The FBI has sent tens of thousands of such letters, reports CBS News correspondent Thalia Assuras.
Librarian George Christian received one. "To receive a request like this — to help spy on someone and then remain silent about it forever — it was chilling," he said.
Cindy Cohn, legal director of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, said the government, in general, needs to return to information gathering methods used prior to the Patriot Act.
The FBI must "limit these very powerful tools to situations in which the government is actually tracking suspected terrorists or spies," Cohn told CBS News Radio.
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