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FBI Employees Face Criminal Probe Over Patriot Act
DevanJedi writes "According to an article at Wired.com , several FBI agents are under investigation for illegally acquiring information an American citizens. Overzealous agents used 'misleading emergency letters' obtain phone records of thousands of Americans. This marks the first time government officers have been prosecuted for misuse of the Patriot Act. From the article: 'Unit employees, who are not authorized to request records in investigations, sent form letters to telephone companies to acquire detailed billing information on specific phone numbers by falsely promising that subpoenas were already in the works. According to a third source, FBI officials also said at the meeting that some bureau employees have already been granted immunity from prosecution in the investigation. The third source, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, did not recall, however, that FBI officials described the investigation as "criminal."'"
"FBI officials also said at the meeting that some bureau employees have already been granted immunity from prosecution in the investigation."
If this is true, I honestly don't know what to say anymore.
I'm moving to Antarctica.
They were acting on direct orders from George Bush.
Now you know where some of the bullies who hassled people in grade school ended up working.
Do the little guys get pardons too? It sure would be embittering to see Scooter Libby go free when salt of the earth NWO grunts got sent to prison.
technical writing / development
I am glad some small parts of our oppressive nanny state are breaking, at least. I hope it not too little, too late.
I'm so sick of this shit.
If a lot of people engage in the same bad behavior, either it's endorsed or they're terribly stupid.
"According to an article at Wired.com, several FBI agents are under investigation for illegally acquiring information [on] American citizens. Overzealous agents used 'misleading emergency letters' [to] obtain phone records of thousands of Americans. This marks the first time government officers have been prosecuted for misuse of the Patriot Act. From the article: 'Unit employees, who are not authorized to request records in investigations, sent form letters to telephone companies to acquire detailed billing information on specific phone numbers by falsely promising that subpoenas were already in the works. According to a third source, FBI officials also said at the meeting that some bureau employees have already been granted immunity from prosecution in the investigation. The third source, who also spoke on condition of anonymity, did not recall, however, that FBI officials described the investigation as "criminal."'"
Not counting the part that was copied and pasted directly from the article, this summary only has three sentences. Two of them had errors. Is there an editor in the house?
This is my main argument against the whole "we know what we're doing with this power" argument being put forward.
We, as citizens, have no idea why these records were sought, and what was done with them. Were they altered? Were the requests ultimately put to use that saved lives or harmed them? How many made it through without being caught? How will we ever know for sure?
The example for restricting power I like to put forward for arguments sake:
Lets say you're, say, 35 years old, recently divorced, ready to move on and find yourself a new girl. Looking around, you meet someone in a bar, she's recently divorced too. Things are going well for the two of you, when all of a sudden, some charges are brought up on you.
Turns out, her former husband is employed at [pick your favorite cloak and dagger agency], and not happy about his wife dating again.
Are these charges real? are they made up?
Of course, I'm not proposing that this searching power will only be used for such purposes, or that fraudulent data could be put in, but where is the recourse for when some unhinged person attempts to abuse their position?
Similarly, lets say you're in a car accident with the son/daughter of a similarly employed person. They have unknown, potentially damaging power to affect your life and cause you serious trouble in an effort to change the outcome of the situation/extract revenge.
This kind of unchecked power *will* be abused. BOFHs aren't just in server rooms, they're in every employment position imaginable, and there is a nonzero percentage of them who will abuse their position for any reason. I've only given two, I'm certain you can think of many, many more!
There is no chance of anyone getting more than a slap on the wrist over this. The government hasnt let the law gets in its way yet.
Contrary to popular belief, Unix is user friendly. It just happens to be particular about who it makes friends with.
But the good side of it is the glimmer of hope that they will be held accountable. Maybe I'm day-dreaming.
The abstract claims that this is the first prosecution of Patriot Act abuse, however, the article claims only that this is an investigation that has the POSSIBILITY to lead to the first prosecution.
And looking at prosecutions of government abuse under the current admin, I wouldn't exactly count on it happening.
Getting diabetes AND salmonella would be a bad weekend.
Someone said that they think a few people who were probably working for the FBI may have done something that could have been construed as illegal, and that there may, or may not be an investigation, and that if there were an investigation it could possibly be of a criminal investigation nature, all of which may be rendered moot because someone thought they heard someone else say that the people that someone thought might have committed a crime may have already been granted immunity?
I'm all for the investigation of the allegations, removal of the perpetrators from the FBI, as well as imprisonment for any of them that are convicted of committed criminal offenses. But how about we wait 15 minutes before printing this story and figure out what the hell is actually going on first?!?
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
Although, he was just delivering the original order from President-VICE Richard B. Cheney, or, at least, a President-VICE Richard B.
Cheney Lookalike.
Why was Saddam Hussein described as living in a spider-hole and Cheney's bunker is described as an undisclosed, secure location?
You can have mouthsecks or boobsecks with a. With b you get poopsecks and regularsecks, and an ugly mouth.
choose
The third source, who also spoke on condition of anonymity,
Sure would be nice if the US Press Core grew a pair. Everywhere else in the world, officials put their name to their comments because the press won't print comments without any name; there's no accountability, so people have no incentive to tell the truth, so there's no point in printing the comments. I'm so fed up with US politicians and officials covering their asses with "anonymous" comments, and the press core lapping it up.
For chrissakes, some of these people are even telling the press exactly how to "anonymously" describe them: Cheney, for example, always demands to be quoted as "a senior Bush administration official."
Please help metamoderate.
Wow, if only there was some way we could have predicted this?
"Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
Please Please Please, let one of the FBI agents be working on request of the whitehouse staff.
I'd hate to see it be just average schmoes just stalking their ex-girl/boy friends.
Also, subpoenas first you lame ass telcos, checks and balances....
I'm getting tired of seeing so many stories about the illegal activities of the Bush Administration here at Slashdot.
But not nearly as tired as I am of having a president and vice president who have corrupted the entire structure of the Executive Branch and who have weakened the foundation of our Nation.
To those of you who think these stories don't belong at a site that's for "News for Nerds, Stuff that Matters", I'd say that while the illegality and corruption of the Bush Administration, and their poisonous use of technology to take away our rights and consolidate power is no longer "news", it certainly qualifies as "stuff that matters".
I invite any of you who don't think that both Bush and Cheney should be removed from office to please explain. Today, I learned from the Wall Street Journal that there are still 26% of the population (Harris Poll) who support the President. I really need to know why. I have enough faith in the fairness and decency of the American people that it surprises me that Bush's support is still in double digits.
You are welcome on my lawn.
Lacking <sarcasm> tags,
The FBI is investigating activities senior officials knew were occurring for years. The only reason they are investigating is because enough people turned whistle blower that Congress is on the verge of launching their own investigation. By starting their own internal investigation, they can use the Neo-Con party line when questioned by Congress: "Sir, I am not at liberty to discuss the matters of an on going investigation."
In the end, the election year will distract Congress, the FBI will conclude their investigation, give out a few wrist slaps, and the new oversight committee will require more signatures on things.
The truly scary part though, is that the investigation is not looking at the legality of the data collection, but at the process that was followed to collect the data. Had Gonzo sat down and signed all of those subpoenas, everyone would be in the clear and the FBI would still be kicking out requests in droves.
-Rick
"Most people in the U.S. wouldn't know they live in a tyrannical state if it walked up and grabbed their junk." - MyFirs
Slashdot editors make it look like the administrative assistants, custodians, and assembly line workers are evil or something. Call it like it is: try "agents".
libertarian: (n) socially liberal, financially conservative; neither left, nor right.
They are literally endangering the lives of all of us. By abusing the PATRIOT Act, they are risking having it taken away from those agents who would use it legally to prevent some sort of terrorist attack from happening again.
I hope it, the PATRIOT Act, is gotten rid of. It's not needed. And I was against it to begin with as well as against renewing it. They already had all the power needed to reduce the risk of terrorist attackes. Yes, I said "reduce the risk", as the risk can't be eliminated even in a police state run by a military dictator.
FalconShould there be a Law?
That's the stupidest fucking tag I've heard of since I've been at Microsoft!
...granted immunity from prosecution
...did not recall
...criminal
*Sigh* Same old, same old for the US government.
I'm so fed up with US politicians and officials covering their asses with "anonymous" comments, and the press core lapping it up.
So, you want to get rid of anonymous sources then? Perhaps you didn't live through Watergate which eventually led to Nixon's impeachment. "Follow the money" said one source to a newspaper reporter.
FalconShould there be a Law?
By abusing the PATRIOT Act, they are risking having it taken away from those agents who would use it legally to prevent some sort of terrorist attack from happening again.
That is inexcusable... or unpardonable.
You've been on a roll recently. I give it two thumbs up!
(Nice nick, BTW.)
If it's for-profit but free, you're not the customer -- you're the product (e.g., the Slashdot Beta's "audience").
why his approval ratings remain so high at 26%. Possibly they're giving free NRA memberships with the Pat Robertson protein shakes now...
One of the tags for this article is "slashdotliberalwhining".
Just seeing that broke my heart, makes me want to cry. What have we come to when holding our officials responsible for their actions accounts to "liberal whining"?
I know we'll never hold Bush accountable, nor Cheney nor any of the real players in this situation. But still, America is supposed to be free, and part of that is punishing police, soldiers, fbi agents, or even presidents when they break the law. The idea that somehow they are above the law, the very *idea* that they are above the law kind of obviates the whole fucking spirit of freedom and why America was founded.
Let me say this exactly once: These FBI agents are *citizens*, and so are soliders, and so are Bush and Cheney. They are not above the law.
I'm not saying this as a liberal ( though I am one ) nor as a libertarian ( though I also sort of am one ) but as a human being, and as an american. A deeply frightened and ashamed-for-my-countrymen american.
lorem ipsum, dolor sit amet
Someone please respond to this post with a verifiable example of a terrorist action that was stopped by using provisions of the Patriot act. So far I have only seen it being used to lock up Americans doing stuff totally unrelated to terrorist activities and infringe on peoples privacy and liberty.
You'll never hear the FBI, or this admin, give a single example of a terrorist attcks that was thwarted by intel that could only of been gotten by the PATROIT Act. The Act was not needed!
FalconShould there be a Law?
We have this thing in the US called the "legal system". Folks are actually innocent till proven guilty. As opposed to al you you lynch mobbers ready to hang anyone who happens to not subscribe you your ideas or ideals.
"God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
If they were UNIT employees, they were probably protecting us from the CyberMen or the Daleks, so I would excuse the perceived transgressions. It's just terrible that they're taking the fall and can't even speak about what they were *really* up to!
Often, I wonder if being able to know the future would actually help me any. After all, there's another saying:
Those who foresee misfortune suffer it twice.
What I want to know is when do we get to spend $70 million in taxpayer dollars and sick a Ken Starr-like special investigator on the current administration? Somehow 70m spent on finding out if our president lied about spooging on an interns dress seems kinda foolish and contrite compared to the antics of this current crop of criminals.(oops I meant politicians) Although, I wish Bill had thought of executive privilege when it came to his admin being forced to testify. Seems to work well for Bush/Cheney & Co.
"FBI officials also said at the meeting that some bureau employees have already been granted immunity from prosecution in the investigation." i don't believe this!!!.. :S
Cheney, for example, always demands to be quoted as "a senior Bush administration official."
Wait, doesn't that, by his own admission, make him part of the executive branch?
(BTW, it's "corps")
Nixon wasn't actually impeached, he resigned from office before he was impeached. Had he not resigned he would of been impeached, which is exactly what impeachment is there for, to remove someone from office.
FalconShould there be a Law?
I had heard before that the Patriot Act had more to do with inter-agency cooperation than with anything else, but I don't know how to verify that short of reading the law myself.
Speaking of which, can someone please post a link to an example of an American locked up using Patriot Act provisions? I'm not talking about abuses like the one in the OP, but lockups.
I cried real tears when Li Mu Bai died.
Oh my, if only this were true! This happens in the UK too, and has since, well, forever. Politicians brief journalists off the record all the time, and the higher up the politician, the more they do it. What's that quote from 'Yes Minister'? Something like "The ship of state is the only ship that leaks from the top".
Of all the places to get busted for doing something criminal at work, I'd imagine the FBI has to be one of the worst.
khasim (12/9/06): In a blind taste test, more people preferred Coke over the Pepsi that I had previously pissed in.
It is simply amazing that it took them this long to notice THOUSANDS of abuses of the "emergency letter" scheme.
The name "emergency letter" implies it be used as a last resort. Do they really have enough emergencies that a few thousand abuses is an insignificant number to detect, in amongst the total of [insert unbelievable number here] letters used?
Most people don't have a problem with wiretapping suspected terrorists when there is probable cause. But this should account for a FEW HUNDRED cases each year at most (including legit cases).
This is just one of the reasons I don't use phones/email. The funny thing is that even the CIA used mobile phones before a kidnapping in Italy, which is how most of them got busted. And yet real terrorists (not like the latest wannabe noobs in the UK) know all about secure communications and hence either only meet in person or use some old spy tricks to make anonymous secure communications. They know all about Echelon because it was used against them in Afghanistan with their satellite phones. They know about wiretaps as well (it is in their training manuals).
Mass eavesdropping won't find terrorists. Is there even one single case where it has proven useful in finding terrorists that were previously unknown/unheard of? It is a monumental waste of time, money and privacy - so much so, it actually increases the chance of a terrorist attack because the DoJ is too busy listening in on their ex-girlfriend's phone calls to worry about terrorism.
I thought the whole point of the patriot act was misuse (that is, of the american legal system)
Outside of "24" and other spy genre forms of entertainment, the "ticking time bomb" does not exist. But hideous breeches of privacy and civil rights are allowed to continue because people insist that they be allowed to cling the the myth of the ticking time bomb. If we had to accept that the FBI is just freely data mining using whatever means they can manage, basically doing the equivalent of door to door warrantless searches, well, that might be somewhat alarming. If we faced that reality, we might be pushed to do something. So instead we rationalize it. "Oh, there must have been some real emergency that they had to use these fake emergency letters for. Trust the Government. The Government is your friend."
We Americans are not good at dealing with the scary reality, especially when the plausible-sounding fiction is more reassuring.
Never give in--never, never, never, never, in nothing great or small, large or petty, never give in except to conviction
offtopic, but thanks for bringing that up. Another part of history that 99% of folks in the U.S. are completely ignorant about. If you went to secondary school in the U.S. I'll bet that you didn't learn about it in your high school history classes did you? Heaven forbid that FDR's good friends in the USSR had a genocidal campaign of their own.
Did FDR ever invite Stalin over for fishing and barbeque?
"'misleading emergency letters' obtain phone records of thousands of Americans"
Oh noes!
As for the USA, it does, in fact, indirectly recognize the Holodomor as genocide, even if it doesn't use the word as such (they refer to it "the manmade famine that occurred in Ukraine in 19321933" - the key word here is "manmade", that is, deliberate).
"if he was caught on tape having sex with an underage boy, they'd say it was a liberal framejob."
When a Republican congressman was caught sending inappropriate messages to a male page, he was summarily kicked out by the Republican leadership, and resigned in disgrace. There was some evidence that the publicising of the incident was politically driven, and the Republican leadership was pretty poor during the whole thing, but in the end the congressman got what he deserved - he abused his position and lost it.
Contrast to 20 years ago, when the same thing happened to a Democrat. The leadership at the time, also democrats, gave the guy a slap on the wrist and he continued to serve another decade before he retired. Yes, there was skulduggery and fals accusations, but in the end, a congressman abused his position and nothing happened.
Yes, Congress and politics are corrup through and through - just be careful with the throwaway lines you use to condemn one party or another.
"As God is my witness, I thought turkeys could fly." A. Carlson
Yes, I said "reduce the risk", as the risk can't be eliminated even in a police state run by a military dictator.
In such a situation the majority of terrorists are likely to join the police force...
Join the police or the military like in Iraq.
FalconShould there be a Law?
roving wiretaps
Roving wiretaps were already allowed before the PATROIT Act. They were allowed as late as 1988.
Expanding the warrants that can be issued by a judge to include targets more specific to terrorism.
What, warrants couldn't of been used before the act?
Created new crimes related to money laundering and financing terrorism
Like need more laws making things illegal.
Permits the confiscation of the property of those convicted of participating in or planning a terror attack
HAHA!!! Like RICO couldn't have been used for this? If they can use it to pull over someone driving because they fit a profile then confiscate any money found then it should be usable for terrorism as well.
Increased border security provisions to help stop illegal aliens from entering the country, with added provisions for the Canadian border.
You're talking to wrong person about so called "illegal aliens". If you do want to talk about them then what Native American Indian tribe are you from? If you're not Indian then you're an illegal alien. Those wanting to make it illegal to immigrate are no better than the Know Nothings who wanted to exclude the Irish from immigrating to the USA, or those who supported the Chinese Exclusion Act.
If you really want to argue that the Patriot Act is "not needed", you need to specifically address which of these provisions you don't like
Such as searching book store and library records? What of sneak and peek search warrants? The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act of 1978 was specifically setup so the president could get warrants after Nixon abused his office. Or being barred from talking about what you know like Sibel Edmonds was by a Gag order issued by the admin?
FalconShould there be a Law?
23500 Americans could be terrorists. That's rather disturbing.