From: "Rich Gauszka" 

Illegal and improper is misuse. Fortunately this time there was an audit
yet I suspect Patriot Act III might be written to do away with even that -
can't embarrass the law writers that way. I didn't mention Karl Rove ( what
he do now? )


"Gary Britt"  wrote in
message news:45f1a243{at}w3.nls.net...
> This quote below says a few agents were a bit slip shod in their work.
> That it isn't something ordered by Karl Rove, and its the Bush
> whitehouse's justice department that is finding, correcting, and reporting
> these slip shod couple of events.
>
> Sounds like not misuse, but a well functioning government function.  If
> only the rest of the government worked as well and was as effectively and
> timely self-correcting.
>
> Hardly a slam at anything.  Yawn.  Move along, there's nothing to see
> here.
>
> Gary
>
> Rich Gauszka wrote:
>> For those who yell that there is no proof that the Patriot Act has been
>> misused. Those flaming liberals also known as the Justice Department take
>> issue
>>
>> http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070309/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/national_security_lett
ers_18
>>
>> WASHINGTON - The FBI improperly and, in some cases, illegally used the
>> USA Patriot Act to secretly obtain personal information about people in
>> the United States, underreporting for three years how often it forced
>> businesses to turn over customer data, a Justice Department audit
>> concluded Friday.
>>
>> FBI agents sometimes demanded the data without proper authorization,
>> according to a 126-page audit by Justice Department Inspector General
>> Glenn A. Fine. At other times, the audit found, the FBI improperly
>> obtained telephone records in non-emergency circumstances.
>>
>> The audit blames agent error and shoddy record-keeping for the bulk of
>> the problems and did not find any indication of criminal misconduct.
>>
>> ...
>>
>> At issue are the security letters, a power outlined in the Patriot Act
>> that the Bush administration pushed through Congress after the Sept. 11,
>> 2001, terror attacks. The letters, or administrative subpoenas, are used
>> in suspected terrorism and espionage cases. They allow the FBI to require
>> telephone companies, Internet service providers, banks, credit bureaus
>> and other businesses to produce highly personal records about their
>> customers or subscribers - without a judge's approval.
>>
>> FBI Director Robert S. Mueller called Fine's audit "a fair
and objective
>> review of the FBI's use of a proven and useful investigative tool."
>>
>> The finding "of deficiencies in our processes is
unacceptable," Mueller
>> said in a statement.
>>
>> ...
>> Over the entire three-year period, the audit found the FBI issued 143,074
>> national security letters requesting customer data from businesses.
>> The FBI vastly underreported the numbers. In 2005, the FBI told Congress
>> that its agents in 2003 and 2004 had delivered only 9,254 national
>> security letters seeking e-mail, telephone or financial information on
>> 3,501 U.S. citizens and legal residents over the previous two years.
>>

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