Secret Court Issued 2,176 Warrants in 2006

flatline · 05-02-2007, 07:32 PM

AP
Wednesday May 02, 2007

A secret court approved all but one of the government's requests last year to search or eavesdrop on suspected terrorists and spies, according to Justice Department data released Tuesday.

In all, the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court signed off on 2,176 warrants targeting people in the United States believed to be linked to international terror organizations or spies. The record number is more than twice as many as were issued in 2000, the last full year before the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.

One application was denied in part, and 73 required changes before being approved.

The disclosure was mandated as part of the renewal of the Patriot Act, the administration's sweeping anti-terror law. It was released as a Senate intelligence panel examined changes to the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act that could let the government more easily monitor homegrown terrorists.

But in its three-page public report, sent to Senate and House leaders, the Justice Department said it could not yet provide data on how many times the FBI secretly sought telephone, Internet and banking records about U.S. citizens and residents without court approval.

The department is still compiling those numbers amid an internal investigation of the FBI's improper - and in some cases illegal - use of so-called national security letters. The letters are administrative subpoenas that do not require a judge's approval.

A March audit by Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine concluded that some FBI agents had demanded personal data without official authorization, and improperly obtained telephone records in non-emergency circumstances. It also found that the FBI for three years underreported to Congress how often it used national security letters to ask businesses to turn over customer data.

Assistant Attorney General Richard Hertling said the FBI would give Congress updated numbers for 2007, and corrected data for last year, when it finishes "taking steps to correct the identified deficiencies in its tracking of NSLs."

In 2005, the FBI reported issuing national security letters on 3,501 citizens and legal residents.

The FISA court also approved 43 warrants to let investigators examine business records of suspected terrorists and spies. It changed four of the applications before approving them, but did not deny any, according to the Justice report.

Mithra · 05-02-2007, 09:46 PM

Good to know that it is a virtual guarantee that the government can spy on you "legally" if they so choose.

flatline · 05-03-2007, 02:33 AM

bump

Flexwave2003 · 05-03-2007, 03:37 AM

I dont care until the eaves drop on me, once it affects my life then I will care. But then, all of the other people like me wont give a damn until it happens to them...........

oh well..

dkickboxer · 05-03-2007, 04:37 AM

Yeah, cuz I'm so afraid of the big evil government spying on me. They couldn't possibly be spying on possible criminals or terrorists, just your average blue collar workers. I don't do anything illegal so I don't really care.

BeverlyBK · 05-03-2007, 04:46 AM

2176 warrants. 300 million Americans.

We should all be very afraid[/SARCASM]

Flexwave2003 · 05-03-2007, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dkickboxer

Yeah, cuz I'm so afraid of the big evil government spying on me. They couldn't possibly be spying on possible criminals or terrorists, just your average blue collar workers. I don't do anything illegal so I don't really care.

This is obviously a poster with exudes intelligence and depth. I guess we should all be just like you, then the government could do whatever they wanted and as long as we walked the line, like you..........who cares right? Let them fuck everybody else? Thats a good philosophy to have, I can tell you are an educated person.

Oh wait, wtf.......Michael Savage for President? War Frank Shamrock? Never mind, you are a complete tool.

PitBullFan · 05-03-2007, 08:33 AM

Damn, all but one got approved.

If I was one of the almost 3K of people spied on, the government would find out I masterbate about 5 times a day!

Flexwave2003 · 05-03-2007, 09:51 AM

When you think about it, alot more then just the nearly 3,000 people had their rights violated. Think about the people who called these people, or the folks these people called......that starts to add up too alot more then the original number of folks initially tapped. Welcome to the Patriot Act, the bill that put the Constitution on hold indefinitely.