Monday, March 26, 2007
City Police Spied Broadly Before G.O.P. Convention
The New York Times reports, “For at least a year before the 2004 Republican National Convention, teams of undercover New York City police officers traveled to cities across the country, Canada and Europe to conduct covert observations of people who planned to protest at the convention, according to police records and interviews.” “From Albuquerque to Montreal, San Francisco to Miami,” the report explains, “undercover New York police officers attended meetings of political groups, posing as sympathizers or fellow activists, the records show.”
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
FBI Violations May Number 3,000, Official Says
According to The Washington Post, “The Justice Department's inspector general told a committee of angry House members yesterday that the FBI may have violated the law or government policies as many as 3,000 times since 2003 as agents secretly collected the telephone, bank and credit card records of U.S. citizens and foreign nationals residing here.” The report goes on to state, “Inspector General Glenn A. Fine said that according to the FBI's own estimate, as many as 600 of these violations could be ‘cases of serious misconduct’ involving the improper use of ‘national security letters’ to compel telephone companies, banks and credit institutions to produce records.”
Tuesday, March 20, 2007
FBI Issues New Rules For Getting Phone Records
The Washington Post reports, “The FBI, which has been criticized for improperly gathering telephone records in terrorism cases, has told its agents they may still ask phone companies to voluntarily hand over toll records in emergencies by using a new set of procedures, officials said yesterday.” According to the article, under the new policy, requests can be submitted to the companies verbally in the most dire emergencies.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Feds, AT&T Urge Against Wiretap Trial
The Associated Press reports, “The federal government is urging an appeals court to dismiss a lawsuit challenging President Bush's domestic eavesdropping program, warning that disclosure of such activities could compromise national security.” "’The suit's very subject matter - including the relationship, if any, between AT&T and the government in connection with the secret intelligence activities alleged by plaintiffs - is a state secret,’ the Justice Department argued in court papers.”
Friday, March 09, 2007
Report Says FBI Violated Patriot Act Guidelines
ABC News reports, “The FBI repeatedly failed to follow the strict guidelines of the Patriot Act when its agents took advantage of a new provision allowing the FBI to obtain phone and financial records without a court order, according to a report to be made public Friday by the Justice Department's Inspector General.” “The report, in classified and unclassified versions, remains closely held, but Washington officials who have seen it tell ABC News it documents ‘numerous lapses’ and describe it as ‘scathing’ and ‘not a pretty picture for the FBI.’”
