GovernmentExecutive.com

When Congress reconvenes this month, one of the first chores facing lawmakers will be reauthorizing the expiring provisions of the USA Patriot Act, and newly disclosed documents could become a factor in the debate.

The 2001 anti-terrorism law received a last-minute, five-week reprieve in December when Wisconsin Republican James Sensenbrenner, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, rebuffed a six-month extension that the Senate had approved. When the short-term extension was cleared, Sensenbrenner appeared adamant that the current form legislation to reauthorize 16 provisions of the law contains sufficient oversight to protect civil liberties.

President Bush signed the short-term extension into law Friday, so lawmakers now have about a month to negotiate their differences over the civil-liberties protections in the Patriot Act.

Those opposing the current long-term reauthorization bill could have more rhetorical ammunition by the end of the month, as documents from a Freedom of Information Act lawsuit trickle out of FBI offices.

The Electronic Privacy Information Center early last year filed a FOIA request but received few documents until a federal district judge in November ordered the FBI to produce 1,500 pages of documents every 15 days until the requests are fulfilled. EPIC is scheduled to receive the latest batch of documents Wednesday.

The previous batch of documents, delivered shortly before Christmas, show that the FBI's office of general counsel had sent to the Intelligence Oversight Board several complaints about agents' snooping activities. The board is comprised of three members, is housed in the White House and reports to the president.

Some of the complaints relate to how agents tracked their targets. One complaint, for example, showed concern over the tracking of a suspect's telephone calls. The agent continued the tracking even after someone other than the suspect started using the phone, said Marcia Hofmann, director of EPIC's open government project.

Another document shows that an FBI agent received an order from the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court that allowed him to access addressing information on a suspect's e-mails, but he ultimately accessed more information in the e-mails than allowed by the court.

Hofmann said the documents show that Congress should take more time to more fully digest how the administration has used its Patriot Act powers because it is not clear how these incidents were handled.

"I think that the claim that there have been no abuses of the Patriot Act need to be examined in light of these documents," she said.

COMMENTS

• Save your breath. The Bush-worshippers are simply incapable of listening to anything you say against their god. This isn't a question of politics or parties. It's about religion. It's a cult. And the most disturbing thing is not that we have people who worship the president as a god and are unable to find fault with anything he says or does. The most disturbing thing is that the president himself is one of those people. In wartime or peacetime, it makes no difference. You still have to obey the law!! I'm sure that sounds like a crushing burden to the Bush Cult (though it’s quick to jump on any infidel who fails to do the same). But that is how things are. The law is the law. And the law says you need probable cause. The law says you can't just listen in on anyone you want without a reason. The law says you need to go to a court, even if it's three days late. The law says the president has to obey and uphold the law. The law does not grant absolute, unreviewable, unquestionable divine power to the inhabitant of the White House, no matter how much you may want it to. GovExec.com reader Posted February 7, 2006 1:24 PM
• "...intercepting the calls of Americans in America..." Wow, and to think that I thought the government was only intercepting calls between foreigners who came here from nations that support terrorism, and their fellow countrymen back overseas who are seeking to destroy us. Thanks for setting the record straight! Now you've taught me that in wartime, one needs to get a judge to approve a wiretap so we can intercept the calls made to and from our enemies. How educational, and how suicidal! But at least our enemies have a good sense of humor. Just look at how much they enjoy our Western values, such as freedom of speech, and especially our cartoons! GovExec.com reader Posted February 6, 2006 7:20 PM
• It’s not about intercepting foreign calls and you know it. Your GOP spin isn't working. It’s about intercepting the calls of Americans in America, regardless of where the calls are going or coming from. How much power is too much for you? When they start spying on you? And, you believe they're only spying on terrorists. I'm not so sure given this administration penchant for retaliation against those that disagree with them. They have a legal way to get the wiretaps they seek, even retroactively, so what's the excuse for not doing it? For people who claim to love democracy so much they're willing to waste hundreds of billions of dollars and kill tens of thousand of people to force it on another country, the GOP is doing its best to limit our democracy here at home. GovExec.com reader Posted February 3, 2006 7:42 AM