Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
Wall Street Journal
April 2, 2008
Pg. 2
By Siobhan Gorman
WASHINGTON -- The Defense Department used the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has broader domestic spying powers, to gather information on people in the U.S., according to Pentagon documents.
The FBI can obtain a wide range of information from companies, including financial, phone and Internet data on individuals, using administrative subpoenas -- called national security letters -- without obtaining court approval. The Pentagon's use of such administrative subpoenas is limited to collecting financial information.
Melissa Goodman, a national security lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued for the release of the documents, said the organization is concerned the Pentagon "is evading the limits on its own power by turning around and asking the FBI to get information for it."
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Patrick Ryder said in a statement that the Pentagon's issuing of its own letters and its coordination with the FBI "have been focused, limited and judicious." He said that the Defense Department "is keenly aware of its role in protecting the nation, its citizens and their liberties. The DOD is committed to the lawful use of all available resources in that effort."
Vice President Dick Cheney has called the Pentagon's use of the letters "a legitimate security effort that's been under way for a long time." The National Security Agency, which reports to the Pentagon, also used the FBI's authority to collect communications information on people inside the U.S.
Ms. Goodman of the ACLU urged Congress to step up oversight of the Pentagon's use of the letters and limit the circumstances in which such letters can be issued.
"There's really no external oversight," said Lee Tien, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group. "All you have is vampires guarding the blood bank." Internal Justice Department investigations have uncovered widespread misuse of national security letters.
The relationship between the Pentagon and the FBI was hinted at in a batch of documents provided to the ACLU last year, but many of the 1,000 pages associated with an internal review of the use of national security letters by the Army, Navy and Air Force were blacked out. The ACLU sued to force the Pentagon to disclose the blacked-out information. The nine pages of additional text released Tuesday indirectly confirmed the relationship between the Pentagon and FBI. The text included recommendations that the Pentagon keep track of the number of letters issued by the FBI "at the request of a DOD component" or as part of a joint investigation with the Justice Department.
April 2, 2008
Pg. 2
By Siobhan Gorman
WASHINGTON -- The Defense Department used the Federal Bureau of Investigation, which has broader domestic spying powers, to gather information on people in the U.S., according to Pentagon documents.
The FBI can obtain a wide range of information from companies, including financial, phone and Internet data on individuals, using administrative subpoenas -- called national security letters -- without obtaining court approval. The Pentagon's use of such administrative subpoenas is limited to collecting financial information.
Melissa Goodman, a national security lawyer at the American Civil Liberties Union, which sued for the release of the documents, said the organization is concerned the Pentagon "is evading the limits on its own power by turning around and asking the FBI to get information for it."
Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Patrick Ryder said in a statement that the Pentagon's issuing of its own letters and its coordination with the FBI "have been focused, limited and judicious." He said that the Defense Department "is keenly aware of its role in protecting the nation, its citizens and their liberties. The DOD is committed to the lawful use of all available resources in that effort."
Vice President Dick Cheney has called the Pentagon's use of the letters "a legitimate security effort that's been under way for a long time." The National Security Agency, which reports to the Pentagon, also used the FBI's authority to collect communications information on people inside the U.S.
Ms. Goodman of the ACLU urged Congress to step up oversight of the Pentagon's use of the letters and limit the circumstances in which such letters can be issued.
"There's really no external oversight," said Lee Tien, a staff attorney at the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a civil liberties group. "All you have is vampires guarding the blood bank." Internal Justice Department investigations have uncovered widespread misuse of national security letters.
The relationship between the Pentagon and the FBI was hinted at in a batch of documents provided to the ACLU last year, but many of the 1,000 pages associated with an internal review of the use of national security letters by the Army, Navy and Air Force were blacked out. The ACLU sued to force the Pentagon to disclose the blacked-out information. The nine pages of additional text released Tuesday indirectly confirmed the relationship between the Pentagon and FBI. The text included recommendations that the Pentagon keep track of the number of letters issued by the FBI "at the request of a DOD component" or as part of a joint investigation with the Justice Department.