Data on FBI cite abuses in secret surveillance
WASHINGTON -- The FBI has conducted clandestine surveillance on some US residents for as long as 18 months at a time without proper paperwork or oversight, according to classified documents scheduled to be released today.
Records turned over as part of a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit also indicated that the FBI has investigated hundreds of potential violations related to its secret surveillance operations, which have been stepped up dramatically after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, but which are largely hidden from public view.
In one case, FBI agents kept an unidentified target under surveillance for at least five years, including more than 15 months without notifying Justice Department lawyers after the subject had moved from New York to Detroit.
An FBI investigation found that the delay was a violation of Justice Department and prevented the department ''from exercising its responsibility for oversight and approval of a foreign counterintelligence investigation of a US person."
In other cases, agents obtained e-mail messages after a warrant expired, seized bank records without authority, and conducted an improper ''unconsented physical search," according to the documents.
Although heavily censored, the documents provide a glimpse into domestic spying, which is governed by a secret court and overseen by a presidential board that does not publicize its deliberations. The records also emerge as the House and Senate battle over whether to put new restrictions on the controversial USA Patriot Act, which made it easier for the government to conduct searches and surveillance but has come under attack from civil liberties groups.
The records were provided to the
David Sobel, the advocacy group's general counsel, said that the documents raised questions about the extent of possible misconduct in counterintelligence investigations, and that they underscore the need for greater congressional oversight of clandestine surveillance within the United States.
''We're seeing what might be the tip of the iceberg at the FBI and across the intelligence community," Sobel said.
FBI officials disagreed, saying that none of the cases have involved major violations, and that most amount to administrative errors. The officials also said any information obtained from improper searches or eavesdropping is eventually destroyed.
''Every investigator wants to make sure that their investigation is handled appropriately, because they're not going to be allowed to keep information that they didn't have the proper authority to obtain," said one senior FBI official, who declined to be identified by name because of the ongoing litigation. ''But that is a relatively uncommon occurrence."
