FBI seeks expanded search powers

[R.A. Hettinga]

<http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7388717/print/1/displaymode/1098/>
  MSNBC.com

FBI seeks expanded search powers
 Justice Dept. also wants expiring Patriot Act provisions renewed
NBC News and news services
Updated: 12:16 p.m. ET April 5, 2005


WASHINGTON - FBI Director Robert Mueller on Tuesday asked lawmakers to
expand the bureau's ability to obtain records without first asking a judge,
and he joined Attorney General Alberto Gonzales in seeking that every
temporary provision of the anti-terrorism Patriot Act be renewed.

 "Now is not the time for us to be engaging in unilateral disarmament" on
the legal weapons now available for fighting terrorism, Gonzales, for his
part, told senators.

 He said that some of the most controversial provisions of the Patriot Act
have proven invaluable in fighting terrorism and aiding other
investigations. "It's important that these authorities remain available,"
Gonzales told the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Mueller said sections of the law that allow intelligence and law
enforcement agencies to share information are especially important.

"Experience has taught the FBI that there are no neat dividing lines that
distinguish criminal, terrorist and foreign intelligence activity," Mueller
said in his prepared testimony.

He also asked Congress to expand the FBI's administrative subpoena powers,
which allow the bureau to obtain records without approval or a judge or
grand jury.

"For many years, the FBI has had administrative subpoena authority for
investigations of crimes ranging from drug trafficking to health care fraud
to child exploitation," he stated. "Yet, when it comes to terrorism
investigations, the FBI has no such authority."

15 provisions at stake
The Patriot Act is the post-Sept. 11 law that expanded the government's
surveillance and prosecutorial powers against suspected terrorists, their
associates and financiers. Most of the law is permanent, but 15 provisions
will expire in December unless renewed by Congress.

On the same day Gonzales was speaking to the Senate committee, Sens. Larry
Craig, R-Idaho, and Dick Durbin, D-Ill., planned to reintroduce legislation
designed to curb major parts of the Patriot Act that they say went too far.

"Cooler heads can now see that the Patriot Act went too far, too fast and
that it must be brought back in line with the Constitution," said Gregory
Nojeim, associate director of the American Civil Liberties Union's
Washington legislative office.

The ACLU is part of an unusual coalition of liberal and conservative
groups, including the American Conservative Union, that have come together
in a joint effort to lobby Congress to repeal key provisions of the Patriot
Act.

'Library provision' is controversial
Among the controversial provisions is a section permitting secret warrants
for "books, records, papers, documents and other items" from businesses,
hospitals and other organizations.

That section is known as the "library provision" by its critics. While it
does not specifically mention bookstores or libraries, critics say the
government could use it to subpoena library and bookstore records and snoop
into the reading habits of innocent Americans.

Gonzales told lawmakers Tuesday the provision has been used 35 times, but
never to obtain library, bookstore, medical or gun sale records.

But the criticism has led five states and 375 communities in 43 states to
pass anti-Patriot Act resolutions, the ACLU says.

Even some Republicans are concerned. Senate Judiciary Chairman Arlen
Specter, R-Pa., has suggested it should be tougher for federal officials to
use that provision.

Gonzales already has agreed to two minor changes to the provision, and was
expected to support giving someone who receives a secret warrant under the
provision the right to consult a lawyer and challenge the warrant in court.
He was expected to also back slightly tightening the standard for issuing
subpoenas.

Bigger concerns
Neither change addresses the central concern of opponents, which is that it
allows the government to seize records of people who are not suspected
terrorists or spies.

Critics say the law allows the government to target certain groups, but the
Justice Department counters that no Patriot Act-related civil rights abuses
have been proven.

Just in case, Craig and Durbin want Congress to curb both expiring and
nonexpiring parts of the Patriot Act, including the expiring "library"
provision and "sneak and peek" or delayed notification warrants. Those
warrants - which will not expire in December - allow federal officials to
search suspects' homes without telling them until later.

The Justice Department said federal prosecutors have asked for 155 such
warrants since 2001.

That's just two-tenths of one percent of all search warrants, but their use
is growing. The warrants were sought 47 times between the time the law was
passed and April of 2003. Since then, it's been invoked 108 times.

 Gonzales also notes that the law has been used in non-terrorism cases. For
example, federal officials used it to track over the Internet a woman who
ultimately confessed to strangling a pregnant woman and cutting the fetus
from her womb.

And such searches have been allowed for years in drug and organized crime
cases.
The Associated Press and NBC's Pete Williams contributed to this report.
/

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R. A. Hettinga <mailto: rah at ibuc.com>
The Internet Bearer Underwriting Corporation <http://www.ibuc.com/>
44 Farquhar Street, Boston, MA 02131 USA
"... however it may deserve respect for its usefulness and antiquity,
[predicting the end of the world] has not been found agreeable to
experience." -- Edward Gibbon, 'Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire'

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