The Ever Expanding Grab For Power: Military & CIA Warrantless Spying On US Citizens

Military Expands Intelligence Role in U.S.

If you are one of those folks that think it's okay for the US government to grab private records and data on US citizens because we are engaged in a so-called "war on terror," I'd like to think that this article will give you cause to pause and re-think that position. The Fourth Amendment has been castrated from the Constitution without truthful justification. The expansion of spying on US citizens--in a manner that HAS NOT proven effective or fruitful--now includes spying being conducted by the NSA, CIA, FBI, Secret Service, all branches of the US military and more. Corporations are cooperating by surrendering consumer records--including credit sensitive information--without requiring a warrant or due process. The US government has co-opted private citizens and private business into becoming another arm of the law because these private entities do not have to adhere to the Bill of Rights.

It is time to sue these corporations. Even if we do not win, the mere fact that they are in court so often defending the decision to turn over records without consent or a warrant might get there attention. In the mean time, I suggest we all withhold one full payment to every corporation that has complied with a warrantless request. If every consumer were to withhold one payment (placing it in escrow), then these silly bastards would have to take notice that they are upsetting consumers. Ain't nothing like hitting them where it hurts: in their pockets.

The Pentagon has been using a little-known power to obtain banking and credit records of hundreds of Americans and others suspected of terrorism or espionage inside the United States, part of an aggressive expansion by the military into domestic intelligence gathering.

This is a violation of the Posse Comitatus Act in that gathering intelligence is a military tactic of war. Since that is the case, any gathering of intelligence--of any kind--within the boundaries of US soil, is a breach of the Posse Comitatus Act and doctrine, which prohibits any military involvement in law enforcement or military action unless directly authorized by the president on a case-by-case basis.

The C.I.A. has also been issuing what are known as national security letters to gain access to financial records from American companies, though it has done so only rarely, intelligence officials say.

This is a violation--in spirit if not the letter--of FISA. The CIA has no business conducting domestic operations of any kind without following the provisions of FISA. The CIA's suspected involvement in Watergate and other domestic activities from the 1950s to the 1970s was part of the inspiration for creating FISA.

Banks, credit card companies and other financial institutions receiving the letters usually have turned over documents voluntarily, allowing investigators to examine the financial assets and transactions of American military personnel and civilians, officials say.

This is a violation of jurisdiction. Military personnel should be investigated by one of the military law enforcement entities (CID, NCIS, etc.) or by the FBI following the usual methods and guaranteed due process outlined in the Constitution. If it happens on US soil, it is a matter of law enforcement. Civilian persons suspected of criminal activity--including espionage or terrorist activities--should be investigated by the FBI, not the CIA. In the case of a civilian, the constitutional protections should be fully assured before any surveillance or collecting of documents occurs. Even in emergent cases, the provisions of FISA are fully adequate for empowering the FBI to investigate expeditiously.

The F.B.I., the lead agency on domestic counterterrorism and espionage, has issued thousands of national security letters since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, provoking criticism and court challenges from civil liberties advocates who see them as unjustified intrusions into Americans’ private lives.

But it was not previously known, even to some senior counterterrorism officials, that the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency have been using their own “noncompulsory” versions of the letters. Congress has rejected several attempts by the two agencies since 2001 for authority to issue mandatory letters, in part because of concerns about the dangers of expanding their role in domestic spying.

Which CEO or other executive is going to turn down such a letter in the face of current pressures by the government? They can claim that these letters from the CIA and military are "voluntary" and "noncompulsory," but this is the same tactic that was used during the McCarthy campaign... the mere presence of an allegation allows for a de facto presumption of guilt and anyone not cooperating or asking questions is guilty by association or obstruction.

The military and the C.I.A. have long been restricted in their domestic intelligence operations, and both are barred from conducting traditional domestic law enforcement work. The C.I.A.’s role within the United States has been largely limited to recruiting people to spy on foreign countries.

So where is the congressional oversight? Where are the courts? Where are the patriots in the military and US government that would dare to oppose this crap on the basis of righteousness?

Carl Kropf, a spokesman for the director of national intelligence, said intelligence agencies like the C.I.A. used the letters on only a “limited basis.”

If I rob a bank, which I know is illegal, can I claim that I only rob banks on a "limited basis"? If I write bad checks, can I claim that I only do so on those I suspect might be terrorists? If I refuse to pay my taxes, can I claim I am doing so in the best interest of my country? How do we know this is being done in a limited capacity when we know they are doing it in direct violation of the law in the first place? How much limit can there be when everything is done in secret, without oversight and without judicial review?

Pentagon officials defended the letters as valuable tools and said they were part of a broader strategy since the Sept. 11 attacks to use more aggressive intelligence-gathering tactics — a priority of former Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld. The letters “provide tremendous leads to follow and often with which to corroborate other evidence in the context of counterespionage and counterterrorism,” said Maj. Patrick Ryder, a Pentagon spokesman.

What a load of horse manure! This is a bogus defense of an overall climate of power grabbing and utter disregard for the Constitution. All the laws in the world cannot undo the provisions of the Constitution. Under the "supremacy clause" of the Constitution, only those laws--and actions in pursuance of those laws--that are in full compliance with the provisions, protections and principles of the Constitution are valid. Since these actions are prima facie violations of the Fourth Amendment and several laws passed by congress, they are illegal. It is that simple.

Government lawyers say the legal authority for the Pentagon and the C.I.A. to use national security letters in gathering domestic records dates back nearly three decades and, by their reading, was strengthened by the antiterrorism law known as the USA Patriot Act.

In my view, the USAL Patriot Act is another law that is a prima facie violation of the Constitution. Overall, the Patriot Act circumvents the 1st, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th Amendments.

The very act of warrantless surveillance creates a chilling effect on the notion of freely associating with others.

The seizure of records, even by way of noncompulsory letters to corporate entities, for the purposes of investigating a US citizen or resident is repugnant to the provision that guarantees the "right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures."

The fact that a consumer has no means to object to the release of such records, and their surrender to a government entity that may bring criminal charges against them, circumvents and abrogates the right not to incriminate one's self, as well as the right to due process and the right to understand the charges against them as required by the Sixth Amendment.

The Seventh Amendment preserves the right to trial in civil cases. If the government never brings any action against someone that has been investigated in this illegal manner, the individual has a civil right to pursue damages. That right is circumvented and avoided by the very secret nature of these investigations. The government has seized property (records are property) without compensating a joint owner. Several civil precedents have held that commercial records are to a lesser extent property of the consumer in that they have a right for such transactions to remain private except by way of a properly issued warrant.

Ruining a person's reputation--or even potentially ruining a person's reputation--by conducting a criminal investigation without probable cause is a violation of the Eighth Amendment in that it constitutes an unusual punishment. If you doubt this, consider that the person being illegally investigated has been labeled a terrorist and, since there is an absence of due process and constitutional protections, is essentially branded as such. The TSA will most likely flag them and make traveling more difficult and cumbersome. Credit records may reflect the disclosure of records to federal authorities and flag consumers for different treatment in terms of obtaining credit. There is no end to the permutations that this type of harmful action could produce to the individual being put under such scrutiny. Such a person might as well go around wearing a "scarlet T" on their clothing to indicate they have been accused of, and punished for, being a terrorist.

Both the Ninth and Tenth Amendments have specific language that state any authority not directly delineated to the federal and state governments are reserved by the people. I would argue that the power grabbing and assertions by which the Bush administration has justified all of this secret spying violates the reservation of rights not delineated.

Pentagon officials said they used the letters to follow up on a variety of intelligence tips or leads. While they would not provide details about specific cases, military intelligence officials with knowledge of them said the military had issued the letters to collect financial records regarding a government contractor with unexplained wealth, for example, and a chaplain at Guantánamo Bay erroneously suspected of aiding prisoners at the facility.

Here we already have proof that there are errors in the process. In my view, that clearly indicates that others may have been falsely accused, tagged or marked as terrorists under this secret and warrantless process. The very fact that erroneous actions have already been undertaken confirms all of my points noted above.
Usually, the financial documents collected through the letters do not establish any links to espionage or terrorism and have seldom led to criminal charges, military officials say. Instead, the letters often help eliminate suspects.

“We may find out this person has unexplained wealth for reasons that have nothing to do with being a spy, in which case we’re out of it,” said Thomas A. Gandy, a senior Army counterintelligence official.

But even when the initial suspicions are unproven, the documents have intelligence value, military officials say. In the next year, they plan to incorporate the records into a database at the Counterintelligence Field Activity office at the Pentagon to track possible threats against the military, Pentagon officials said. Like others interviewed, they would speak only on the condition of anonymity.

With this much manure being thrown about, our gardens ought to flourish this year. How much of this bovine excrement are we going to take before someone stands up to this runaway administration?

Military intelligence officers have sent letters in up to 500 investigations over the last five years, two officials estimated. The number of letters is likely to be well into the thousands, the officials said, because a single case often generates letters to multiple financial institutions. For its part, the C.I.A. issues a handful of national security letters each year, agency officials said. Congressional officials said members of the House and Senate Intelligence Committees had been briefed on the use of the letters by the military and the C.I.A.

Dare we ask how many of these investigations actually found the evil doers? Dare we ask how much these wild goose chases are costing us tax payers? Dare we ask what other programs of warrantless spying and illegal investigations--or what other laws are being violated by our own government and leaders--are costing us? Dare we ask for some relief and redress?

The article goes on to say that records seized in this type of illegal investigation are maintained even when there is not a finding of wrong-doing. Given the government's lack of IT security and notorious record of losing computers, and the fact that even the best database experts identify data handling by the government as 20-40% corrupted, we really have to question how this data is being processed, maintained, updated, used and abused.