[Infowarrior] - FBI Made Mistakes, Mueller Said

[Richard Forno]

FBI Made Mistakes, Mueller Said

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller admitted that the bureau made mistakes when
gathering information on Americans.
 
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller admitted "mistakes, carelessness, confusion,
lack of training, lack of guidance and lack of adequate oversight" that
resulted in misuse of national security letters, which authorized the FBI to
gather personal information on about 40,000 to 60,000 Americans from 2003 to
2005.

Speaking to the Senate Judiciary Committee, Mueller said poor organization
led to the mishandling of the letters. However, the FBI didn't deliberately
break the law by improperly obtaining thousands of Americans' phone, e-mail
and financial records, Mueller insisted.

The letters allowed the department gain access to private information on
American citizens from third parties such as telephone, Internet providers
and credit card companies.

The Patriot Act, passed after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, gave the FBI
the authority to request this information without a court order to combat
international terrorism.

"I am responsible for those shortcomings and for taking the steps to ensure
that they do not happen again," Mueller said.

A report issued last week said the FBI didn't get proper authorization for
all of its letter requests and gave Congress inaccurate reports of how many
were issued.

The Senate panel's ranking Republican, Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, said:
"The question arises as to whether any director can handle this job and
whether the bureau itself can handle the job."

 http://www.torontodailynews.com/index.php/WorldNews/2007032803fbi-made-mist
akes