Misblog

Originally Published March 09, 2007; Updated and Republished August 13, 2008; Updated and Republished August 27, 2008:

Surprise! The United States Department of Justice, Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issues a scathing 199 page report (4M pdf)1 on the FBI's improper and illegal use of National Security Letters (NSL). After the OIG report states that the FBI's use of NSLs has grown dramatically from 8,500, pre-Patriot Act to 143,074 post-Patriot Act2, 2003-2005 it catalogs the problems.

The problems belie all control or oversight of the NSL process. Some of the noted problems include:

• No policy for retaining copies of issued NSLs.
• No uniform system for tracking NSLs and the information obtained under them.
• Improper and illegal use of NSLs.
• Improper use of "exigent" NSLs.
• Inability to connect NSLs with specific and proper National Security Investigations.
• Failure to adhere to internal FBI internal controls and policies.
• Not adhering to the least intrusive method for obtaining data, as required.
• NSL database incomplete and inaccurate.
• Complete loss of NSL data.
• Twenty-two percent more NSLs in case files than in NSL database.
• Under reporting the number of issued NSLs.

Hey John Ashcroft, you wanted proof - read this report. Even the bubble of the pugnacious and perpetually in-denial Alberto Gonzales was burst by the report.

Web:

• UPDATED 08/27/2008 Reuters, Judges consider whether FBI violated free speech
• UPDATED 08/13/2008 UPI, Reporters' group wants FBI explanation
• UPDATED 03/27/07 NY Times, Congress Expands Scope of Inquiries Into Justice Department Practices and Politics

-----notes-----

1. The report is a pdf of an image of the report - DOJ-OIG needs to issue the report as regular pdf so it can be easily studied annotated and shared. Not to mention a much much much smaller file size! Original 35 Meg "image" pdf has been replaced by normal "text" pdf.

2. You'll recall NSLs receive no judicial oversight and that the Patriot Act significantly lowered the standard for issuance of NSLs.

NSLs are issued based on an internal FBI certifying process which the report makes clear is badly broken.