FBI Director Defends Patriot Act

Robert Mueller Tells Skeptical Senators FBI Can Use Anti-Terrorism Powers Properly

(AP)  FBI Director Robert Mueller labored Tuesday to persuade skeptical senators that the FBI can properly use its terrorism-era authority to gather telephone, e-mail and financial records of Americans and foreigners while pursuing terrorists.

He appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee after the Justice Department inspector general revealed abuses in the FBI's use of documents called national security letters to gather such data without approval from a judge.

"We're going to be re-examining the broad authorities we granted the FBI in the Patriot Act," Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., told Mueller.

Mueller urged the panel not to revise the law.

"The statute did not cause the errors," Mueller said. "The FBI's implementation did."

He said he instituted procedures to police the use of these letters. "What I did not do and should have done is put in a compliance program to be sure those procedures were followed," the FBI chief added.

He said he has now begun to do that, has ordered an audit to determine the full extent of the problem and to determine if any agents should be disciplined.

"We are committed to demonstrating to committee, the Congress and the American people that we will correct the deficiencies," Mueller said.

"I still have very serious qualms," Leahy replied.

Citing the inspector general report on national security letters and his previous reports criticizing FBI reporting of terrorist cases, of weapons and laptops losses, Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa., said, "Every time we turn around there is another enormous failure by the bureau."

"There's another headline virtually on a daily basis," Specter added, citing a Washington Post report Tuesday that agents had submitted inaccurate data to a court that issues warrants for foreign intelligence surveillance.

"The question arises as to whether any director can handle this job and whether the bureau itself can handle the job," Specter said, proposing that the panel give serious consideration to establishing a separate domestic intelligence agency like Britain's MI-5.

Mueller said he had reduced the problem since learning of it in 2005 but noted that the warrant applications are very long and contain thousands of facts.

"I'm not impressed with your assertion that there are thousands of facts," Specter said. "That's your job. You asked for these powers; we gave you them. If these applications are wrong, you're subjecting people to an invasion of privacy that ought not to be issued."

The committee plans to hear April 17 from Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, who is struggling to keep his job amid criticism of the NSL abuses and the firings of eight U.S. attorneys.

"Last year the administration sought new powers in the Patriot Act to appoint U.S. Attorneys without Senate confirmation and to more freely use National Security Letters," Leahy said in opening remarks. "The administration got these powers, and they have badly bungled both."

In a review of headquarters files and a sampling of four of the FBI's 56 field offices, Inspector General Glenn A. Fine found 48 violations of law or presidential directives during 2003-2005. He estimates there may be as many as 3,000 violations throughout the FBI that have not been identified or reported.

When Fine testified before the Senate panel last week, Leahy said, "In light of this report, we need to consider whether Congress went too far" in the Patriot Act in removing restrictions on FBI use of national security letters.

In a House Judiciary Committee hearing with Fine, Republicans and Democrats warned the FBI could lose that broad power.

If the FBI doesn't move swiftly to correct the mistakes and problems, "you probably won't have NSL authority," said Rep. Dan Lungren, R-Calif., a supporter of the power.

In 1986, Congress first authorized FBI agents to obtain electronic records without approval from a judge, using national security letters.

The letters can be used to acquire e-mails, telephone, travel records and financial information, like credit and bank transactions. They can be sent to telephone and Internet access companies, universities, public interest organizations, nearly all libraries, financial and credit companies.

In 2001, the Patriot Act eliminated any requirement that the records belong to someone under suspicion. Now an innocent person's records can be obtained if FBI field agents consider them relevant to an ongoing terrorism or spying investigation.

[long_rider]

We need to do away with the Patriot Act all together.

During WWII the FBI did not need any special legislation to thwart off German, and Japanese agents in America.

Why do we have to give up our liberties to people we don't even trust?

The chimps ship must sink, and everything he created must be destroyed.

[dallasmsl]

DefendLiberty,

I totally agree with your posts. They are truthful, thought provoking, and hopefully, enlightening to those who bought into the Bush Regime.

Dave Sanchez
[e-mail]

[tucson23]

1. Our rights are not granted to us by our government, and it is not free to take them away to protect me from a practically non-existent threat. Even if terrorist attacks happened here every day, I would still have a better chance of dying in a car accident. Furthermore, the soldiers in Iraq right now are not defending the Consitution. The only way terrorists can defeat the Consitution and our way of life is if our government sacrifices our freedoms willingly. It's not the soldiers' fault, but nothing going on militarily in Iraq or anywhere else has the potential to cause the downfall of the U.S.

2. Two wrongs don't make a right. If you'll notice, each time the government trampled our rights they ended up apologizing and paying reparations (think Japanese internment).

3. You're right here, unless the President and Congress are controlled by the same party. Then you have to rely on the Courts, which is why the Republicans call judges "activist" when they do their duty and put a stop to excesses.

I'll leave soldiering to you, you leave political philosophy to people who know something about it, okay?

[marine_one]

Now, to finish my thoughts:

4. And, by the way, there's over 300 million people living in the US. No government agency has the capibility to moniter even 0.01% of the communications of every citizen, legal resident, or illegal immigrant. They're targeting those with ties and potential ties to terrorist cells and activities. So if you're worried about your privacy, don't associate with terrorists.

5. In the meantime, we have troops overseas that are in harms way. And although we're supposed to be a nation at war, most of the time it seems like we're a military at war with only our families supporting us. You cannot support the troops with one hand and hold a picket sign with the other.

Let me make a correction to number 2 in my previous post. George Washington was General of the Army when he authorized spy programs, not the president.

[marine_one]

A few items that need clarification.

1. We are a nation at war. If you don't believe it, ask any member of the armed forces and they'll tell you all about it. And, by the way, it's not you and your activist friends that put your life on the line for our country and our freedoms, it's me and my friends. It's not the protestors with picket signs that protect and defend the Constitution, it's a Marine or a soldier and his rifle.

2. The Patriot Act is child's play compared to the measures employed when our nation was at war in previous eras. Presidents Washington, Lincoln, Wilson and Roosevelt all authorized much more comprehensive, and very warrantless, spy and surveillance programs during their presidencies. By the way, Pres Woodrow Wilson authorized the interception of ALL cable, telegram, telephone, and written correspondence going into or out of the United States no matter who it was from. President Bush authorized monitoring of only those deemed a possible threat to our national security.

3. Here's the wonderful part: we're still a nation of checks and balances. That's why the FBI director is testifying before Congress. If the FBI has done wrong then I'm confident in Congress' ability to rectify the situation. If the President oversteps his bounds, Congress will be there to reel him in.

[gunownerdan]

"Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. This is easy. All you have to do is to tell them they are being attacked, and denounce the pacifist for lack of patriotism and exposing the country to danger. It works the same in every country."
- Hermann Goering, Hitler's Reich-Marshall
at the Nuremberg Trials after WWII

[coffeehead-2009]

Similar to the distinction the Pentagon draws between "collecting" and "receiving" intelligence on U.S. citizens, the Information Operations Roadmap argues that as long as the American public is not intentionally "targeted," any PSYOP propaganda consumed by the American public is acceptable.

The Pentagon plan also includes a strategy for taking over the internet and controlling the flow of information, viewing the web as a potential military adversary. The "roadmap" speaks of "fighting the net," and implies that the internet is the equivalent of "an enemy weapons system."

In a speech on Feb. 17 to the Council on Foreign Relations, Rumsfeld elaborated on the administration's perception that the battle over information would be a crucial front in the War on Terror, or as Rumsfeld calls it, the Long War.

325000 Names on Terrorism List
Scott speculated that the "detention centers could be used to detain American citizens if the Bush administration were to declare martial law."

[gunownerdan]

"Unless the people retain sufficient control over those entrusted with the powers of their government, these will be perverted to their own oppression, and to the perpetuation of wealth and power in the individuals and their families selected for the trust."
- Thomas Jefferson, 1812

BRING BACK THE BILL OF RIGHTS!
http://www.a-human-right.com/effective.html

[nvme3]

I have travelled 1100 miles twice to our nations capitol this stinking war on terror. I read i educate myself on the atrocities of the bush neofascist regime. I encourage you who blog here to not just right this crappy blog but to go off on your senators and your congressmen. keep it up when enough voices are heard then the nasty business of the patriot act will be repeal don't just sit on your fat azzes and byatch at each, but use it to make something happen. do it once a day. intstead of here innundate their email with the power of the pen. it is not enough to complain, take action !

[harp1963]

These morons are using the "UnPatriot Act" to spy on non-threatening civilly disobedient law abiding Americans. There is no reason they shouldn't use proper suponea channels through the U.S. court system. We can't trust our own President, let alone his cronies at the FBI. I say abolish the Patriot Act and criminalize any law enforcement abusing this power.

[gunownerdan]

John F. Kennedy said it best....


"Today we need a nation of minute men; citizens who are not only prepared to take up arms, but citizens who regard the preservation of freedom as a basic purpose of their daily life and who are willing to consciously work and sacrifice for that freedom. The cause of liberty, the cause of American, cannot succeed with any lesser effort."
- President John F. Kennedy, January 29, 1961

The Bill Of Rights is the only hope we have!

[tucano2]

The anti-American so-called Patriot Act needs to be 100 percent repealed immediately if the USA is to survive.
The FIB ought not be trusted to help an old lady across the street let alone anything else
AttyGenl Gonzales ought to be shown the door and thrown thru it all the way back to Mexico.
The so-called Justice Dept. ought to be active in restoring the Civil Rights of Americans starting with the mass deportations of millions of illegal aliens who by definition are criminals - and a very high percentage are just street thugs assasins and terrorists of the worst sort daily
Every time there is a rally ICE ought to be there with sufficient van space to haul them all away for vetting whether to deport them or just fingerprint and mugshot them for future use in jailing them

[zootallures2]

Put a beer can in a cannon and see if it puts a clean round hole in a stop sign, even.

[zootallures2]

You may say, we are not stupid you TROLL.

In that case, I say replace all the depleted uranium armour, shells, bombs, and bullets with aluminum. Since it can pass through steel and concrete. Wrap the troops in Reynolds Wrap, and we can send them all our empty cans to use for rocket granades. Prove that 911 Commission Report!

[zootallures2]

Security Act, Emergency Act, 9/11 Act .... not even Egypt or Syria could get away with "Patriot Act".

Sure, I'm a stupid American. Undo the whole Revolutionary war and call it the Patriot Act.

[walt1944-2009]

The entire so-called Patriot Act (who's the patriot here? George Bush?!) should be repealed and Congress should start taking back the powers it had to make the executive and law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies ACCOUNTABLE! The Republicans and neo-cons will agrue that the bill is working keeping terrorism away from us, but what about the guy who started all this: OSAMA BIN LADEN! Why isn't this guy in custody or hanging from a tree or in Gitmo being "water boarded"? Bush says he doesn't have time to think about him anymore. This fanatic attacked us, killed 3000 people and Bush doesn't have time to think about him! What if FDR didn't have time to think about Hitler 65 years ago!

[skyk-2009]

COMMUNIZE HEALTH CARE FIRST SPARKY, then energy, then corporations so that everbudy works for the state.

There is no god, only the state, WE know it takes a village, sparky!

Long live the gloreus peeples republic of amerika




Posted by MCVett at 06:30 PM : Mar 27, 2007

I know you, in your simple minded way, think you are being smart. You are not. What's with you Fascist anyway. Can't you just be American's at long last? Is it possible to say we were used and the people who lead us were LYING to us? Do you HAVE to continue with your hatred for your fellow Citizens and Neighbors for Gods sake? You folks are so sad and embarrassing!

[scott4261]

The USA PATRIOT Act compromises the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, and 8th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution...and those are just compromises to the Bill of Rights! If you go further into the Constitution, you'll find violations in Article II (particularly Section 2). If combed through, I would bet that several other parts of the Constitution have been violated. This is a serious matter. The USA PATRIOT Act should be repealed.

"Those who would give up essential liberties for temporary saftey deserve neither liberty nor safety." - Very wise words from Benjamin Franklin. Words that we need to heed now, more than ever in our history.

[CBSTV]

Yes, it is amazing how rapidly the "Patriot Act" was rushed to Congress after September 11, 2001. This major piece of legislation ought to have required much time to draft. "Here's the bill, Congressman. Don't worry about all that mumbo-jumbo in there. Just skip to the last page and sign. You want to be a good American, right?"

Suspicions aside for the moment, it was irresponsible to enact such sweeping, society-changing legislation with little or no scrutiny or debate. The administration assured critics in 2001: "Oh, don't worry. This is only temporary. The Patriot Act sunsets in a couple years."

Today, the only proper action is for the Patriot Act to be fully repealed. If there are genuinely good reasons to reinstitute certain aspects of the Act, our legislators ought to openly consider them one by one.

[coffeehead-2009]

On March 23, 1933, Adolf Hitler pushed the the Enabling Act, which provided the newly elected Nazi government with additional powers to act against enemies of the state. This particular piece of legislation bears remarkable resemblance to the U.S.A Patriot Act:


How the Patriot Act Compares to Hitler's Ermdchtigungsgesetz (Enabling Act)
http://1933key.com/news/patriot_act_vs_enabling_act.html




Shocking Parallels Between The US Patriot Act & the Nazi Enabling Act
"When The Government Fears The People, There Is Liberty.
When The People Fear The Government,
There Is Tyranny."
-- Thomas Jefferson