This is the FBI, not the CIA. But now that those
troublesome walls between departments have been removed for efficiency, are their also secret FBI prisons? mjh
IN THE PAST FEW weeks there have been
two significant disclosures concerning the rules that govern domestic spying, just as the House and the Senate are preparing to reconcile
versions of a bill to reauthorize key provisions of the USA Patriot Act.
The first was a release by the FBI of internal reports
documenting violations of the rules of domestic surveillance in national security cases.
The second was a story by Post staff
writer Barton Gellman revealing that the number of “national security letters” — a kind of administrative subpoena used by the FBI to
obtain normally private records — has exploded since the passage of the Patriot Act and now reaches 30,000 per year.
These
reports open a timely window onto the question that animates the debate over the Patriot Act: How responsibly is the government
using its spying powers? Though they don’t provide a complete answer, the new disclosures are troubling. …
… at least 13 cases between 2002 and 2004 of violations serious enough that the FBI itself determined they must be reported to
an executive branch agency called the Intelligence Oversight Board. Moreover, the case numbers on the released documents suggest that
there were hundreds of potential violations examined by the bureau during that period. This is cause for concern.
Limits On Patriot Act By Dan Eggen, Washington Post Staff Writer
Congress edged closer yesterday to limiting some of the
sweeping surveillance and search powers it granted to the federal government under the USA Patriot Act in 2001, including a provision
that would allow judicial oversight of a central tool of the FBI’s counterterrorism efforts, according to Senate and House aides.