Romney view on bugging stirs responses

The aggressive intelligence-gathering methods that Governor Mitt Romney advocated this week in a speech to Washington conservatives are used by federal investigators, but only if they meet strict legal standards, law enforcement specialists said yesterday.

Romney suggested in an address on homeland security before the Heritage Foundation on Wednesday that the FBI should conduct electronic surveillance on mosques if they are preaching hate and terror.

He also suggested that the government might closely monitor students from countries accused of sponsoring terrorism.

But federal authorities need more evidence than just hateful speech to open an investigation, specialists said. Before the FBI can conduct wiretapping, for instance, the bureau must persuade a federal judge that there's probable cause to believe someone is doing or planning something criminal.

''The fact that somebody speaks in anti-American tones, that may cause you to be suspicious about how they may act on those feelings," said Gerry Leone, a former federal prosecutor who was state terrorism coordinator after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. ''But the way our standards are written in this country, you can't obtain formalized, approved investigative strategies for electronic surveillance on speech alone."

Jim Ring, who spent 25 years with the FBI in Boston, added, ''Speaking is one thing; acting is another."

The FBI can do some surveillance without a judge's approval, such as tracking someone's movements. But the bureau always must have a ''legitimate law enforcement purpose," said Gail Marcinkiewicz, a spokeswoman for the FBI in Boston.

''There are particular rules, laws, and guidelines that we have to follow whenever we initiate an investigation," she said.

Yesterday, Romney sought to soften his remarks about possible wiretapping. He told reporters at Otis Air National Guard Base in Bourne that he was not proposing anything new.

''The point I continue to make is that I believe as a nation we are underinvesting in the gathering of intelligence and counterintelligence capabilities," Romney said. ''I'm not suggesting a new form of counterintelligence or a new form of intelligence in this nation."

''The governor is not suggesting blanket wiretapping -- that's ridiculous," Romney's communications director, Eric Fehrnstrom, said yesterday. Romney, he said, was simply advocating ''more resources for prevention through better intelligence-gathering."

Fehrnstrom stressed that Mohammed Atta, the lead Sept. 11 bomber, had entered the United States on a student visa.

''You'd have your head in the sand if you didn't recognize that there are students who come here from countries that sponsor terrorism," Fehrnstrom said.

Romney's speech has stirred concern among civil libertarians and Muslims. Some said they felt it was the latest attempt to demonize Muslims for political purposes.

''We've heard a lot of this," said Salma Kazmi, assistant director of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center. ''It's indicative of the sad shape our country is in."

Members of the Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee of Massachusetts, the American Friends Service Committee, and other supporters are planning a press conference today at the State House on the wiretapping proposal.

Many Muslims interviewed yesterday at cafes, mosques, and on campuses refused to give their names, saying they might already be under surveillance.

In front of the Mosque for the Praising of Allah in Roxbury, one man said he believed his mosque and many others had been bugged. ''We always talk sensibly . . . we figure they are listening," said the man, who declined to give his name.

Leone, who is running for Middlesex district attorney, noted that 65 percent of the 370 terrorist attacks worldwide in 2004 were by Islamist extremists. And yet, he said, the United States is severely lacking in investigators who speak Arabic and has not built enough relationships with Muslims.

Globe correspondent Michael Levenson contributed to this report. Helman can be reached at shelman@globe.com; Radin at radin@globe.com.