Telecoms Cut FBI Wiretaps Over Late Bills

Justice Department Audit Cites Lax Oversight, Poor Supervision Of Eavesdropping Program

(AP)  Telephone companies have cut off FBI wiretaps used to eavesdrop on suspected criminals because of the bureau's repeated failures to pay phone bills on time.

A Justice Department audit released Thursday blamed the lost connections on the FBI's lax oversight of money used in undercover investigations. Poor supervision of the program also allowed one employee to steal $25,000, the audit said.

In at least one case, a wiretap used in a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act investigation "was halted due to untimely payment," the audit found. FISA wiretaps are used in the government's most sensitive and secretive criminal and intelligence investigations, and allow eavesdropping on suspected terrorists or spies.

"We also found that late payments have resulted in telecommunications carriers actually disconnecting phone lines established to deliver surveillance results to the FBI, resulting in lost evidence," according to the audit by Inspector General Glenn A. Fine.

More than half of 990 bills to pay for telecommunication surveillance in five unidentified FBI field offices were not paid on time, the report shows. In one office alone, unpaid costs for wiretaps from one phone company totaled $66,000.

Assistant FBI Director John Miller said the bureau is working to fix the problems "to ensure appropriate oversight."

"While there is widespread agreement that the current financial management system, first introduced in the 1980's is inadequate, the FBI will not tolerate financial mismanagement, or worse, and is addressing the issues identified in the audit," Miller said in a statement.

The report released Thursday was a highly edited version of Fine's 87-page audit that the FBI deemed too sensitive to be viewed publicly. It focused on what the FBI admitted was an "antiquated" system to track money sent to its 56 field offices nationwide for undercover work. Generally, the money pays for rental cars, leases and surveillance, the audit noted.

It also found that some field offices paid for expenses on undercover cases that should have been financed by FBI headquarters. Out of 130 undercover payments examined, auditors found 14 cases of at least $6,000 each where field offices dipped into their own budgets to pay for work that should have been picked up by headquarters.

The faulty bookkeeping was blamed, in large part, in the case of an FBI agent who pleaded guilty in June 2006 to stealing $25,000 for her own use, the audit noted.

"As demonstrated by the FBI employee who stole funds intended to support undercover activities, procedural controls by themselves have not ensured proper tracking and use of confidential case funds," it concluded.

Fine's report offered 16 recommendations to improve the FBI's tracking and management of the funding system, including its telecommunication costs. The FBI has agreed to follow 11 of the suggestions but said that four "would be either unfeasible or too cost prohibitive." The recommendations were not specifically outlined in the edited version of the report.

[Con Mohrat]

Big brother can''''t even pay it''''s phone bills even though we have paid our taxes. That''''s funny!
Posted by azmka at 04:26 PM : Jan 11, 2008

~~~~~~~~

Spent it all in Iraq. Today''s news on Google: The US Dollar is no longer accepted for tickets to the Taj Mahal, Agra, India.

Just what Iran and Venezuela wanted. Dump the weak dollar.

[azmka]

Big brother can''t even pay it''s phone bills even though we have paid our taxes. That''s funny!

[logicanada]

Not to worry, FBI. I''m sure Citibank will extend you easy credit terms. Be sure to read the fine print though.
LOL

[demwatcher]

It MUST be a Liberal in charge of paying the phone bill at the FBI. Stupid AND subversive.

He probably skimmed the money for a his viagra prescription. Limpy Liberals!

[antoniof123]

I can''t stop laughing to type anything.

[rowdytexan2]

I just have to keep coming back to this one! It is just too hilarious!

The telephone companies aren''t getting their immunity, and aren''t even getting paid, so they just cut their *** lines off!!! omg! rofl

[l8c6]

Right wing republican raping and pillaging of the U.S. treasury.

[l8c6]

In other words, private corporations are hoes who will do anything, treason no exception, so long as you show them the money !

[gunnerv1]

lastdance7 If you can prove any of your claims, then you should go public, if not, then shut the *** up!

[jjp735i]

The telephone companies want immunity and their money!
What a suprise.

[watcher269-2009]

This is SOOOOO funny.

Maybe the government should raise taxes to pay the Fricken Bills.

[simpleguy234]

Ramos Dude? Do you not understand what is happening here? Wasteful spending!!!! No money because they blew it on other useless ***

[ramos937]

The FBI cannot afford to pay its phone bill and last night the GOP Presidential candidates want to cut taxes??

How dumb can you be??

[alphaa10-2009]

How can telcos defend their violation of the privacy rights of American citizens?

They cannot claim they hold FBI requests paramount when they cut active surveillance because of non-payment. It would appear timely payment trumps all other concerns with telco management, even national security.

Clearly, the telcos pretend high principle, but resort to the most petty, greedy, materialistic policies in practice.

Therefore, they cannot be held immune from actions by American citizens defending their privacy rights. What telcos have done is a crime, and the FBI aided and abetted that crime.

The telcos broke the law, said Sen. Chris Dodd, "betraying millions of customers'' trust" by handing over phone records to the government for construction of a massive database. Dodd said lawsuits against the companies was "the last bastion of oversight of the president''s warrantless wiretapping program."

[brianbwb-2009]

I meant "no legal right", sorry for the typo.

[brianbwb-2009]

Posted by glaswolf
If the FBI doesn''t deem it necessary to pay their bills, and would rather pocket the money, then why bill them anyway, and why budget money to pay it?

The phone company is a privately owned business, and unless you are going to "eminent domain" those people (which isn''t a bad idea, actually), the FBI has lo legal right to order them to provide service, any more than they can order you to do your job for free.

[mcv57]

Wire tapping is legal as long as you have legal authority to do it.

Posted by ilikecats1

That is just the point, ilikecats1, FBI wiretapping is not warranted. I am assume this random wiretapping is part of the unconstitutional program called the Patriot Act.

[glaswolf]

If this low level sacking is going on, what other decay and negligence is wandering within the minds of those who ought to be watching the watchers. Someone is signing without reading. Someone is vouching without cause or adequate rationale. Whoever is cutting off the FBI taps could just as easily sever essential communications passed thru their loops ... so we need to separate martial communication''s protocols from civilian interfacing ... It''s a fact we know now. WE cannot as a nation depend upon those who thru assertions became participant in war. A certain portion of their resources must be drafted and military officers linked into checking and monitoring to ensure thru put in times of need.

[brianbwb-2009]

"Audit: Lax Oversight Of Money For Surveillance Led To Fraud, Halts Of Criminal and Terror Wiretaps"

And they say "Trust us, we only tap the terrorists"

"Trust us"...

Quoth the Brian, "Nevermore, and I didn''t before"...

[mcv57]

It just dawned on me. Wiretapping is illegal, therefore, to finance such a program is crimminal. Soon, the FBI will be working out of the White House basement.