WASHINGTON, DC — The FBI has been running roughshod over American citizens’ rights to privacy, and Congress wants the bureau reined in.That’s the bipartisan message coming out of Washington this week, as legislators in both chambers begin hearings about the FBI’s alleged misuse of secret “national security letters” and other tactics to collect mountains of personal information from credit card and telephone companies and internet service providers.
The hearings are part of the fallout following the Justice Department’s disclosure in 2007 and early this year that the bureau may have abused its surveillance authority by gathering telephone, email and financial records without proper prior approval. Other allegations against the agency included “shoddy paperwork, improper claims about nonexistent emergencies and an insufficient link between the data requests and ongoing national security probes,” according to the Washington Post.
“It is clear that the NSL authority is too overbroad and operates unchecked,” Rep. Jerrold Nadler (D-NY) told the Post. “We must give our law enforcement the tools they need to protect us, but any such powers must be consistent with the rule of law.”
Nadler, along with Rep. Bill Delahunt (D-MA), Rep. Jeff Flake (R-AZ) and Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX), has sponsored a House bill that would curtail the FBI’s ability to employ NSLs without clear links to legitimate investigations of foreign powers or agents. The bill also would require the agency to destroy any existing documentation found to be gathered improperly and allow citizens to file civil suits when they suspect illegal or insufficiently based data collection.
In the Senate, Russell Feingold (D-WI), Richard J. Durbin (D-IL), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and John E. Sununu (R-NH) have sponsored a similar bill.
Although FBI and other Justice Department officials have acknowledged “problems” with the past use of NSLs and asked for time to clean up the agency’s act, federal legislators aren’t sure the agency is willing to or capable of correcting the situation without congressional help.
“It’s a bipartisan issue,” Fein told the Post. “It’s not trusting the goodwill or the angelic disposition of the government to preserve our rights… We ought to learn from our experience since 9/11 and restore checks and balances. Congress can’t just rely on the FBI to fix the problem.”
The FBI, however, maintains it is competent and contrite about past indiscretions.
“We are committed to using [the NSLs] in ways that maximize their national security value while providing the highest level of privacy and protection,” FBI Assistant Director John Miller told a hearing.
