F.B.I. CRITICISED FOR ABUSE OF POWER

16 March 2007

Growing row in the US over FBI over-reaching itself....and Senator Kyl wants even more secrecy

Online gamblers are increasingly sensitive to the activities of the US Department of Justice and Federal Bureau of Investigation enforcers following recent incidents involving online gambling company executives and companies, and the controversial passage of the Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act in the United States.

So new Reuters reports on a gathering storm over abuse of power allegations against the FBI will be followed with interest by the industry.

The Reuters report quotes the Justice Department's director general, who said this week that the FBI abused its power by illegally or improperly obtaining telephone, financial and other secret records in investigations of terrorism or espionage suspects.

A report by Inspector General Glenn Fine's office sharply criticised the FBI for how, without a court order, it demanded and received records such as customer information from telephone companies, Internet service providers, financial institutions and consumer credit companies.

"We believe the improper or illegal uses we found involve serious misuses of national security letter authorities," Fine said in releasing the report.

National security letters allow the FBI to compel the release of private information without getting authority from a judge or grand jury.

Vowing to investigate, Democrats in Congress seized on the report, which comes as they step up criticism of President Bush's administration for weakening civil liberties protections in its war on terrorism.

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales praised the report for uncovering "serious problems" in the FBI's use of national security letters, his spokeswoman said.

Gonzales told FBI Director Robert Mueller the past mistakes "will not be tolerated" and ordered new safeguards be set up at the FBI, Justice Department spokeswoman Tasia Scolinos said.

Director Mueller called the finding of deficiencies "unacceptable".

"While we've already taken some steps to address these shortcomings, I am ordering additional corrective measures to be taken immediately," he said.

The use of national security letters has grown dramatically, mainly as a result of powers granted to the FBI under the USA Patriot Act.

In investigating abuses of authority, the report found 26 possible violations, including requesting information without adequate authorisation, improper requests under the law and unauthorized collection of telephone or e-mail records. Of the 26 cases, 22 were the result of FBI errors and four were caused by mistakes by those who received the request for the information, the report said.

In reviewing 77 investigative files in FBI field offices, the report found that 17 of them, or 22 percent, contained one or more possible violations not identified by the field office or reported to FBI headquarters as required.

In another finding, the report identified many cases of the FBI improperly obtaining telephone toll billing records and subscriber information from three telephone companies.

Although the report did not find any indication of intentional criminal misconduct, it said there had been serious misuses of the FBI's powers.

Sen. Russ Feingold, a Wisconsin Democrat, said: "This report proves that 'trust us' doesn't cut it when it comes to the government's power to obtain Americans' sensitive business records."

Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy, a Vermont Democrat, also vowed oversight hearings.

"The average American can take away the fact that you have FBI officers who felt that they were above the law, and they could just go in and look at anything they wanted on their own (and) would not have to follow the law," he said.

In a relevant postscript to the Reuters story, it has emerged that the man online gamblers love to hate, arch online gambling antagonist Senator Jon Kyl of Arizona, plans an amendment to a bill before the US Senate this week that proposes even greater secrecy.

Kyl's amendment seeks to criminalise the leak or publication of any classified information contained in 28 reports that must be submitted to Congress through the Improving America’s Security Act of 2007, the USA Patriot Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2005 and the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004.

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