Patriot Act Renewed as FBI Cites More than 100 Eavesdropping Violations

When the misnamed Patriot Act passed initially right after the September 11 murders, no member of congress had actually read it. With its renewal this week, that excuse can’t be used; congress traded freedom for security and achieved neither. That is all the more true since this week also saw the FBI report to an intelligence oversight board over 100 possible violations of surveillance law.

As reported in the Washington Post, “In one case, the FBI obtained the contents of 181 telephone calls rather than just the billing records to which it was entitled. In another, a communication was monitored for more than a year after eavesdropping should have ended -- although investigators blamed a third-party provider for the mix-up.”

If in all of this there is a hero, the role could be filled by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine, whose office is charged by law to issue this report semiannually. He and his staff are trying to make sure the Patriot Act isn’t abused, a Sisyphean task to be sure. The Post also says

The report confirmed that Fine's office is investigating a broad range of issues related to the government's anti-terrorism efforts. They include investigations of the FBI's role at military detention facilities in Iraq, in Cuba and elsewhere; the bureau's use of National Security Letters; and the FBI's treatment of antiwar protesters.

Fine also reported that the Office of Professional Responsibility is investigating the Justice Department's use of material-witness warrants to detain suspects after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. The same office is examining the role of Justice lawyers in reviewing the National Security Agency's warrantless surveillance program.