FBI warned Justice, Pentagon about interrogation tactics used against terror suspects

April 23, 2008
FBI warned Justice, Pentagon about interrogation tactics used against terror suspects

WASHINGTON - FBI Director Robert Mueller on Wednesday recalled warning the Justice Department and the Pentagon that some U.S. interrogation methods used against terrorists might be inappropriate, if not illegal.

Mueller's comments came under pointed questioning by House Democrats demanding to know if the FBI tried to stop interrogations in 2002 that critics define as torture.

Senators Grill FBI Chief On Laws Being Broken by FBI

March 27, 2007
Senators Grill FBI Chief On Laws Being Broken by FBI

WASHINGTON -- FBI Director Robert Mueller labored Tuesday to persuade skeptical senators that the FBI can properly use its Patriot Act authority to gather telephone, e-mail and financial records of Americans and foreigners while pursuing terrorists.

He appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee after the Justice Department inspector general revealed abuses in the FBI's use of documents called national security letters to gather such data without approval from a judge.

"We're going to be re-examining the broad authorities we granted the FBI in the Patriot Act," Committee Chairman Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., told Mueller.

Mueller urged the panel not to revise the law.

"The statute did not cause the errors," Mueller said. "The FBI's implementation did."

FBI broke the law

March 10, 2007
FBI broke the law

WASHINGTON — Years of suspicion about the government's authority to secretly poke around in Americans' personal information boiled over yesterday when the FBI admitted it did so illegally in some cases over the past three years.

At a glance...

• Who did what: Federal law enforcement chiefs say the FBI broke the law in prying into Americans' personal information.


• So what: Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales and FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III apologized and pledged to stop it.


• What next: Disciplinary action, not criminal charges, are likely.

Two FBI Whistleblowers Confirm Illegal Wiretapping of Government Officials and Misuse of FISA

March 5, 2007
Two FBI Whistleblowers Confirm Illegal Wiretapping of Government Officials and Misuse of FISA

State Secrets Privilege Was Used to Cover Up Corruption and Silence Whistleblowers

The National Security Whistleblowers Coalition (NSWBC) has obtained a copy of an official complaint filed by a veteran FBI Special Agent, Gilbert Graham, with the Department of Justice Office of the Inspector General (DOJ-OIG). SA Graham's protected disclosures report the violation of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA) in conducting electronic surveillance of high-profile U.S. public officials.

Before his retirement in 2002, SA Gilbert Graham worked for the FBI Washington Field Office (WFO) Squad NS-24. One of the main areas of Mr. Graham's counterintelligence investigations involved espionage activities by Turkish officials and agents in the United States. On April 2, 2002, Graham filed with the DOJ-OIG a classified protected disclosure, which provided a detailed account of FISA violations involving misuse of FISA warrants to engage in domestic surveillance. In his unclassified report SA Graham states: "It is the complainant's reasonable belief that the request for ELSUR [electronic surveillance] coverage was a subterfuge to collect evidentiary information concerning public corruption matters." Graham blew the whistle on this illegal behavior, but the actions were covered up by the Department of Justice and the Attorney General's office.

FBI turns to broad new wiretap method

January 30, 2007
FBI turns to broad new wiretap method

One reason why the full-pipe technique raises novel legal questions is that under federal law, the FBI must perform what's called "minimization."

Federal law says that agents must "minimize the interception of communications not otherwise subject to interception" and keep the supervising judge informed of what's happening. Minimization is designed to provide at least a modicum of privacy by limiting police eavesdropping on innocuous conversations.

EFF's Bankston disagrees. He said that the FBI is "collecting and apparently storing indefinitely the communications of thousands--if not hundreds of thousands--of innocent Americans in violation of the Wiretap Act and the 4th Amendment to the Constitution."

Report chides FBI for handling of Foley case

January 23, 2007
Report chides FBI for handling of Foley case

WASHINGTON -- The Justice Department's inspector general admonished the FBI on Monday for its handling of the page scandal involving former Rep. Mark Foley, saying the bureau failed to follow up on suggestive e-mail between the Florida Republican and a former male page and gave inaccurate statements to the public about the case.

The report also criticized the bureau for public comments it made about the advocacy group
complaint.

Justice officials said at the time that the advocacy group had provided "heavily redacted"
e-mail and refused to provide information about the source of the e-mail, indicating that was the
reason the FBI did not pursue an investigation earlier.

"The OIG concluded that such statements were not accurate," the report found. "The e-mails were
not heavily redacted and the evidence showed that the FBI did not seek additional information from
CREW."