Pentagon reportedly spying using obscure rule
NEW YORK -- The Pentagon has been using a little-known power to get banking and credit records of hundreds of Americans and others suspected of terrorism or espionage in the United States, The
Citing intelligence officials who spoke on condition of anonymity, the newspaper said the investigations, part of an expansion by the military into domestic intelligence gathering, involved the issuance of what are called national security letters to get access to financial records from US companies.
The CIA has also been using the power, although intelligence officials said the agency has done so only rarely.
Thousands of mandatory national security letters have been issued by the FBI since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, but it has not previously been made public that the Pentagon and the CIA were using noncompulsory versions of the letters.
Most banking and financial services companies have complied voluntarily with the requests, allowing government investigators to examine assets and transactions of US military personnel as well as civilians.
Civil liberties advocates have criticized the use of the letters by the FBI and the practice has been challenged in court as an unnecessary intrusion into the privacy of Americans. Congress has rejected several attempts by the Pentagon and the CIA to obtain authority to issue mandatory letters.
Government lawyers say the legal authority for the Pentagon and CIA to use the letters dates back nearly three decades and was bolstered by the USA Patriot Act. But other legal analysts said the Pentagon was using an overreaching definition of its powers under laws designed to protect forces and military installations.
