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FBI Papers Indicate Intelligence Violations

The FBI has conducted clandestine surveillance on some U.S. residents for as long as 18 months at a time without proper paperwork or oversight, according to previously classified documents to be released today.

Source: The Washington Post (online), October 24, 2005

McClellan unaware of military on border

At today's White House press briefing, presidential press secretary Scott McClellan appeared unaware that Army personnel are now assisting the Border Patrol in New Mexico, referring WND's question about it to the Northern Command.

Source: WorldNetDaily, October 25, 2005

Oklahoma City FBI surrenders documents to court

Under pressure from a federal judge to produce at least 87 pages of "un-redacted" internal FBI documents related to the 1995 bombing of the Oklahoma City federal building, the Oklahoma City FBI office has filed under seal documents with a Salt Lake City federal court that could unlock some of the mysteries surrounding the terrorist attack that left 168 dead....

Filed in federal court in Salt Lake City, Utah, attorneys for the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) argued that the FBI Oklahoma City office should not have to make public details that some believe could prove the FBI had prior knowledge of the plot to bomb the Oklahoma City federal building, but somehow failed to stop it.

Source: WorldNetDaily, October 22, 2005

Army helps with surveillance mission along southern border
Army helps curb illegal immigration

The U.S. Border Patrol is getting help from the U.S. Army to slow illegal immigration along New Mexico's southern border.

Armored vehicles from a reconnaissance squadron based in Fort Lewis, Wash., were stationed along a 20-mile stretch of a highway between Columbus and Playas on Thursday, watching for illegal immigrants.

Source: SignOnSanDiego, October 21, 2005
Source: Army Times, October 21, 2005

Pentagon seeks flexibility in spying on Americans

Attempting to loosen decades-old restrictions, the Pentagon is asking Congress to allow its intelligence agents to go undercover when they approach Americans who may have useful national-security information, rather than identifying themselves as intelligence operatives.

The provision found in a wide-ranging intelligence bill would give the Defense Intelligence Agency new latitude to meet U.S. citizens without pulling out their DIA badges and later sending a formal notice of their rights under the landmark 1974 Privacy Act.

Source: Albany Democrat-herald (online), October 8, 2005

Bush Vows to Act on National Rescue Plan

Bush indicated that he wants more authority for the armed forces in natural disasters. The military is barred by law from performing any domestic law enforcement functions

Bush first broached that idea in a speech to the nation from New Orleans last week.

The president said he wants to examine whether the Defense Department should take the lead in a natural disaster "of a certain size" as it would after any terrorist attack. "That's going to be a very important consideration for Congress to think about," he said.

Source: Breitbart, September 25m 2005

National Security Agency gets fix on Internet users

Internet users hoping to protect their privacy by using anti-virus software, Web anonymizers, false identities and disabled cookies on their computer's Web browser have something new to worry about – a patent filed by the National Security Agency (NSA) for technology that will identify the physical location of any Web surfer.

Source: WorldNetDaily, September 25, 2005

How Clintons took control of federal law enforcement

Hillary recognized early that the Internet posed a threat to her power. Her efforts to regulate Internet speech began as early as 1994. By 1995, her operatives were engaged in an all-out war to silence Clinton critics on the Web.

WorldNetDaily, July 7, 2005

Spying: Giving Out U.S. Names

The National Security Agency is not supposed to target Americans; when a U.S. citizen's name comes up in an NSA "intercept," the agency routinely minimizes dissemination of the info by masking the name before it distributes the report to other U.S. agencies. But it's now clear the agency disseminates thousands of U.S. names. U.N. ambassador nominee John Bolton told a Senate confirmation hearing he had requested that U.S. names be unmasked from NSA intercepts on a handful of occasions; the State Department said he had made 10 such requests since 2001, and that the department as a whole had made 400 similar requests over the same period. But evidence is emerging that NSA regularly supplies uncensored intercepts, including named Americans, to other agencies far more often than even many top intel officials knew.

Source: MSNBC, May 2, 2005

Spy imagery agency takes new role inside United States after Sept. 11

In the name of homeland security, America's spy imagery agency is keeping a close eye, close to home. It's watching America.

Since the Sept. 11 attacks, about 100 employees of a little-known branch of the Defense Department called the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency – and some of the country's most sophisticated aerial imaging equipment – have focused on observing what's going on in the United States.

Source: SignOnSanDiego (online), September 26, 2004

FBI Tracks Potential GOP Protesters

Federal agents and city police are keeping tabs on people they say might try to cause trouble at the Republican National Convention, questioning activists, making unannounced visits and monitoring Web sites and meetings.

Source: MyWay (online), August 16, 2004

FBI adds to wiretap wish list

A far-reaching proposal from the FBI, made public Friday, would require all broadband Internet providers, including cable modem and DSL companies, to rewire their networks to support easy wiretapping by police.

Source: C/Net News, March 12, 2004

Court to FBI: No spying on in-car computers

The FBI and other police agencies may not eavesdrop on conversations inside automobiles equipped with OnStar or similar dashboard computing systems, a federal appeals court ruled.

The 9th Circuit Court of Appeals said Tuesday that the FBI is not legally entitled to remotely activate the system and secretly use it to snoop on passengers, because doing so would render it inoperable during an emergency.

Source: CNet News, November 19, 2003

CORRUPTION INVESTIGATION: LV FBI used anti-terrorism law

The FBI used the USA Patriot Act to obtain financial information about key figures in its ongoing political corruption probe centered on strip club magnate Michael Galardi, federal authorities confirmed Monday.

Investigators "used a section of the Patriot Act to get subpoenas for financial documents," said Special Agent Jim Stern, a spokesman for the Las Vegas field office of the FBI. "It was used appropriately by the FBI and was clearly within the legal parameters of the statute...."

Source: Las Vegas Review Journal (online), November 4, 2003

Who's Watching You Surf?

Privacy watchdog groups and members of Congress are making grim guesses about how often the FBI peeks into records of U.S. citizens' Internet activity and phone calls.

But because the Department of Justice has blocked much of the content of its reports, the watchdogs can't get enough information to draw conclusions.

Source: PC World.com, July 4, 2003

Pentagon system tracks every auto

A new Pentagon system officials say will be deployed to combat zones in foreign lands has the capability to track every single car in urban areas, the Associated Press reported Tuesday, leading some to worry the technology will lead to a further erosion of privacy.

Source: WorldNetDaily, July 2, 2003

FBI granted expanded immigration enforcement powers

The FBI now has the authority to detain individuals suspected solely of immigration violations, a power that had long been the province only of agents of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, the Justice Department confirmed Wednesday.

Officials acknowledge that February 28, the last day the now-defunct INS was under the umbrella of the Justice Department, Attorney General John Ashcroft quietly broadened the FBI authority to hold those suspected of having overstayed their visas, or otherwise being "out of status."

Source: CNN, March 20, 2003

Ranchers decry U.S. 'occupying force'

Calling the U.S. Border Patrol an "occupying force," owners of ranches along the frontier with Mexico have formed a new association to resolve grievances and help officials bolster national security....

Walker [ a Texas rancher] charges, however, that "over the past four years – long before September 11 – the USBP has begun to act like an 'occupation force,' ignoring, not only private property rights, but repudiating the assistance that landowners can provide – and have previously provided – to help control illegal entry into Texas."

Source: WorldNetDaily, March 14, 2003

Judge Rejects Challenge to FBI Spy Powers

The FBI does not have to explain why it applied for search warrants to bug homes and tap phones of defendants in a terrorism case, a federal judge ruled Wednesday in an early test of the government's new and expanded spying powers.

The five defendants were charged in October with conspiring to support al-Qaida and the Taliban.

Source: Guardian Unlimited (online), February 26, 2003

State Department Link Will Open Visa Database to Police Officers

Law enforcement officials across the country will soon have access to a database of 50 million overseas applications for United States visas, including the photographs of 20 million applicants.

The database, which will become one of the largest offering images to local law enforcement, is maintained by the State Department and typically provides personal information like the applicant's home address, date of birth and passport number, and the names of relatives.

Source: The New York Times (online), January 30, 2003

Thousands of Pilots Won't Fly Armed, Blame TSA

Pilots with knowledge of the Federal Flight Deck Officer (FFDO), or "armed pilots" program tell CNSNews.com that the manner in which the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) requires FFDOs to carry their weapons not only discourages participation, but also renders them defenseless against potential terrorist attacks when they are most vulnerable. The pilots also complain that TSA has issued a "thinly veiled threat" to disclose personal information discovered during background investigations and subjective results of psychological evaluations in an attempt to further discourage pilots from volunteering for the program.

Source: CNSNews.com, January 15, 2003

The CIA's Secret Army

The U.S. is not yet at war with Saddam Hussein. Not officially. But quietly, over the past few months, some of its savviest warriors have sneaked into his country. They have been secretly prowling the Kurdish-controlled enclave in northern Iraq, trying to organize a guerrilla force that could guide American soldiers invading from the north, hunting for targets that U.S. warplanes might bomb, setting up networks to hide U.S. pilots who might be shot down and mapping out escape routes to get them out. And they are doing the same in southern Iraq with dissident Shi'ites.

Source: Time (online), January 26, 2003

Pentagon to Track American Consumer Purchases

Edward Aldridge, undersecretary of Acquisitions and Technology, told reporters that the Pentagon is developing a prototype database to seek "patterns indicative of terrorist activity." Aldridge said the database would collect and use software to analyze consumer purchases in hopes of catching terrorists before it's too late.

"The bottom line is this is an important research project to determine the feasibility of using certain transactions and events to discover and respond to terrorists before they act," he said.

Source:  Fox News (online), November 21, 2002

Domestic Military Role Under Review

Homeland security chief Tom Ridge says the threat of terrorism may force government planners to consider using the military for domestic law enforcement, now largely prohibited by federal law.

Source: CBSNews (online), July 21, 2002

Executive power grab on tap at White House?

With Congress hotly debating whether to grant sweeping police powers to federal law enforcement agencies in the name of combating terrorism, two attorneys who have studied presidential directives in depth are concerned that civil liberties will take a beating from the executive branch as well as the legislative – and no one would realize it until it was too late.

Source: WorldNetDaily, September 27, 2001

Soldiers to defend U.S. borders

U.S. soldiers will be sent to protect America's borders for a brief amount of time as part of the Bush administration's new homeland defense strategy, the Associated Press reported Feb. 1, citing Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Source: WorldNet Daily, February 1, 2002

Eyeing What You Read

The December 25 issue of Capital Times, a newspaper in Madison, Wisconsin, contains a warning about how the FBI, under Attorney General John Ashcroft and the USA Patriot Act, can order bookstores to provide lists of books bought by people suspected of involvement in terrorism.

The Village Voice, February 14, 2002

Court to Hear Case Affecting Scope of Searches

The Supreme Court agreed today to hear a case about police power to search passengers on public transportation, a case the Bush administration says applies to the war on terrorism.

The court said it will decide if police who want to look for drugs or evidence of other crimes must first must inform public transportation passengers of their legal rights. The ruling could clarify what police may and may not do as they approach and search a passenger.

Source: LaTimes.com, January 4, 2002

Ashcroft: FBI may get more surveillance power

Attorney General John Ashcroft indicated Sunday the Justice Department could loosen some restrictions on the FBI's ability to put domestic groups, including religious organizations, under surveillance to thwart terrorist activity.

Source: CNN.com, December 3, 2001

Bush Team Seeks Broader Surveillance Powers

The Bush administration is asking Congress for a second major expansion of federal surveillance powers that legal experts say would radically change laws that have long protected the rights of Americans.

A Justice Department proposal would eliminate the chief legal safeguard in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA). A CIA proposal seeks legal authority to gather telephone and Internet records from domestic communication companies.

Source: Washington Post (online), December 2, 2001

FBI software cracks encryption wall

       MAGIC LANTERN installs so-called “keylogging” software on a suspect’s machine that is capable of capturing keystrokes typed on a computer. By tracking exactly what a suspect types, critical encryption key information can be gathered, and then transmitted back to the FBI, according to the source, who requested anonymity.
  Source: MSNBC, Nov. 20 [2001]

'Lantern' Backdoor Flap Rages

Network Associates has been snared in a web of accusations over whether it will place backdoors for the U.S. government in its security software.

Since Network Associates (NETA) makes popular security products, including McAfee anti-virus software and Pretty Good Privacy encryption software, reports of a special arrangement with the U.S. government have drawn protests and threats of a boycott.

Source: Wired, Nov. 27, 2001

FBI 'Fesses Up to Net Spy App

An FBI spokesman confirmed Wednesday that the U.S. government is working on a controversial Internet spying technology, code-named "Magic Lantern," which could be used to eavesdrop on computer communications by suspected criminals.

"It is a workbench project" that has not yet been deployed, said FBI spokesman Paul Bresson. "We can't discuss it because it's under development."

Source: Wired, Dec 12, 2001

Terror Act Has Lasting Effects

Legislators who sent a sweeping anti-terrorism bill to President Bush this week proudly say that the most controversial surveillance sections will expire in 2005.

Senate Judiciary chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) said that a four-year expiration date "will be crucial in making sure that these new law enforcement powers are not abused." In the House, Bob Barr (R-Georgia) stressed that "we take very seriously the sunset provisions in this bill."

But the Dec. 2005 expiration date embedded in the USA Act -- which the Senate approved 98 to 1 on Thursday -- applies only to a tiny part of the mammoth bill.

Source: Wired, Oct 26, 2001

Terror Law Foes Mull Strategies

Will the FBI be able to keep its brand new set of eavesdropping and surveillance powers?

President Bush recently signed a massive anti-terrorism bill, granting investigators unprecedented powers that have been applauded by police groups but condemned by civil libertarians.

Because parts of the spy law are so invasive that they arguably violate Americans' privacy rights, opponents of the so-called USA Patriot Act have begun to weigh how to mount a legal challenge.

Source: Wired, Nov. 3, 2001