FBI Reports Over 100 Surveillance Screw-Ups: "The American People Can Trust Me To Balance National Security And Civil Liberties"

FBI Cites More Than 100 Possible Eavesdropping Violations

The FBI reported more than 100 possible violations to an intelligence oversight board over the past two years, including cases in which agents tapped the wrong telephone, intercepted the wrong e-mails or continued to listen to conversations after a warrant had expired, according to a report issued yesterday.

In one case, the FBI obtained the contents of 181 telephone calls rather than just the billing records to which it was entitled. In another, a communication was monitored for more than a year after eavesdropping should have ended -- although investigators blamed a third-party provider for the mix-up.

Give the government broad, unchecked power to conduct domestic surveillance and what do we get? Run-away government and unconstitutional violations of law.

The findings were part of a semiannual report by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine on problems related to the USA Patriot Act, the broad anti-terrorism law that is scheduled to be renewed today with President Bush's signature.

Notice that this report did not come to light until after the USA Patriot Act renewal was already on the president's desk awaiting his signature. What would have happened if this had been revealed to congress before the renewal bill was forced through congress? Not one damn thing... These idiots don't care about civil rights, the Constitution or rational thought.

The report confirmed that Fine's office is investigating a broad range of issues related to the government's anti-terrorism efforts. They include investigations of the FBI's role at military detention facilities in Iraq, in Cuba and elsewhere; the bureau's use of National Security Letters; and the FBI's treatment of antiwar protesters.

Fine also reported that the Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating the Justice Department's use of material-witness warrants to detain suspects after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The same office is examining the role of Justice lawyers in reviewing the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance program.

Sounds like the foxes are guarding the hen house...

Rep. John Conyers Jr. (Mich.), ranking Democrat on the House Judiciary Committee, said Fine's report "is yet another vindication for those of us who have raised concerns about the administration's policies in the war on terror."

"Despite the Bush administration's attempt to demonize critics of its anti-terrorism policies as advancing phantom or trivial concerns, the report demonstrates that the independent Office of Inspector General has found that many of these policies indeed warrant full investigations," Conyers said.

Do we need more proof that the government is out of control? Why is there even one iota of resistance to impeachment? We are being swindled out of our rights, good government, fair access and principled leadership!