[Infowarrior] - Amid Concerns, FBI Lapses Went On

[Richard Forno]

Amid Concerns, FBI Lapses Went On
Records Collection Brought Internal Questions But Little Scrutiny

By R. Jeffrey Smith and John Solomon
Washington Post Staff Writers
Sunday, March 18, 2007; A01

FBI counterterrorism officials continued to use flawed procedures to obtain
thousands of U.S. telephone records during a two-year period when bureau
lawyers and managers were expressing escalating concerns about the practice,
according to senior FBI and Justice Department officials and documents.

FBI lawyers raised the concerns beginning in late October 2004 but did not
closely scrutinize the practice until last year, FBI officials acknowledged.
They also did not understand the scope of the problem until the Justice
Department launched an investigation, FBI officials said.

Under pressure to provide a stronger legal footing, counterterrorism agents
last year wrote new letters to phone companies demanding the information the
bureau already possessed. At least one senior FBI headquarters official --
whom the bureau declined to name -- signed these "national security letters"
without including the required proof that the letters were linked to FBI
counterterrorism or espionage investigations, an FBI official said.

The flawed procedures involved the use of emergency demands for records,
called "exigent circumstance" letters, which contained false or undocumented
claims. They also included national security letters that were issued
without FBI rules being followed. Both types of request were served on three
phone companies.

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/03/17/AR2007031701
451_pf.html