Originally published February 7 2006
Lawmakers concerned over FBI pushing Patriot Act
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Lawmakers have expressed concern that the FBI is pushing the powers of the Patriot Act too aggressively. The misgiving is that the FBI may be looking at the records of ordinary people, not just those that are "relevant" to a terrorist investigation.
Lawmakers expressed concern Sunday that the FBI was aggressively pushing the powers of the anti-terrorist USA Patriot Act to access private phone and financial records of ordinary people.
Chuck Hagel (R-Nebraska), a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, agreed, saying the government's expanded power highlights the risks of balancing national security against individual rights.
Under the Patriot Act, the FBI issues more than 30,000 national security letters allowing the investigations each year, a hundredfold increase over historic norms, The Washington Post reported Sunday, quoting unnamed government sources.
The security letters, which were first used in the 1970s, allow access to people's phone and e-mail records, as well as financial data and the internet sites they surf.
The 2001 Patriot Act removed the requirement that the records sought be those of someone under suspicion.
As a result, FBI agents can review the digital records of a citizen as long as the bureau can certify that the person's records are "relevant" to a terrorist investigation.
"Thirty thousand seems like an awful, awful stretch to me."
Justice Department spokesman Brian Roehrkasse said Sunday he could not immediately confirm or dispute the 30,000 figure, but he said the power to use the security letters was justified.
Such providers include internet service companies but also universities, public interest organizations and almost all libraries, because most provide access to the internet.
Last September in an ACLU lawsuit, a federal judge in New York struck down this provision as unconstitutional on grounds that it restrains free speech and bars or deters judicial challenges to government searches.
That ruling has been suspended pending an appeal to the New York-based 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals.
In a hearing last week the court suggested it might require the government to permit libraries, major corporations and other groups to challenge FBI demands for records.
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