[Infowarrior] - CIA, NSA folks may get expanded arrest powers

[Richard Forno]

http://www.fas.org/sgp/news/secrecy/2006/04/042506.html

The House version of the 2007 intelligence authorization bill would grant
CIA and NSA security personnel the authority to make arrests for "any
felony" committed in their presence, no matter how remote from the foreign
intelligence mission it might be, the Baltimore Sun reported today.

Section 423 of H.R. 5020 "appears...to grant to CIA security personnel
powers that have little to do with the primary mission of 'executive
protection,' and potentially creates a pretext for use or abuse of these
powers for the purposes of general domestic law enforcement -- something no
element of the CIA has ever been empowered to perform," wrote Danielle Brian
of the Project on Government Oversight in a letter to members of the House
Intelligence Committee opposing the provision.

      http://www.pogo.org/p/government/gl-060401-intel.html

Section 432 of the bill grants similar authority to NSA security personnel.

The bill also includes measures intended to increase penalties for
unauthorized disclosures of classified information.

See "Congress cracking down on U.S. leaks" by Siobhan Gorman, Baltimore Sun,
April 25:

      
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/nationworld/bal-te.spies25apr25,0,5928384.s
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