|
U.S. legislators on Tuesday heard first hand the findings of an
internal government report, which revealed that the Federal Bureau of
Investigation, or FBI, abused its powers in obtaining personal information
during investigations of suspected terrorists. VOA's Peter Fedynsky
reports an FBI official acknowledged the revelations have damaged the
agency's credibility.
Nearly 80 minutes into the hearing, Judiciary Committee Chairman John
Conyers banged the gavel to restore order after a member of the audience
briefly disrupted the proceedings.
The comment "We don't trust the FBI!" underscored what the FBI's
General Counsel, Valerie Caproni, told the committee earlier in the
hearing - that the bureau needs American public support to fight
terrorism, particularly in neighborhoods susceptible to radical influence.
"We need people in those communities to call us when they hear or see
something that looks amiss. We
know that we reduce the probability of that call immeasurably, if we lose
the confidence of any part of the American public," she said.
That trust, however, has been eroded amid revelations that the FBI may
have misused so-called National Security Letters to obtain private
information about people, without getting prior approval from a judge or a
grand jury.
Controls over how the letters are used was loosened under the so-called
Patriot Act, a controversial law passed by Congress to hunt for terrorists
in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States.
In his testimony, Inspector General Glenn Fine told the House Judiciary
Committee that the FBI dramatically increased the number of National
Security letters in violation of statues, and policies established by the
bureau and the U.S. Attorney General. But Fine said the FBI did not
intentionally violate the law. "We believe the misuses and problems that
we found generally were the problem of mistakes, carelessness, confusion,
sloppiness, lack of training, lack of adequate guidance and lack of
adequate oversight," he said.
Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, however, noted that the FBI
was aware of the abuses as early as 2004. The Inspector General conceded
that his investigation did not inquire about the actions of individuals.
He said it would be appropriate for the FBI to learn exactly who was doing
what, when and why, and to hold people accountable for any violations.
Committee member Jerrold Nadler, a New York Democrat and critic of the
Patriot Act, said the FBI abuses could be attributed to the law itself.
"It is not enough to mandate that the FBI fix internal management problems
and record-keeping, because the statute itself authorizes the unchecked
collection of information on innocent Americans," he said.
But Republican Lamar Smith of Texas said the problem is due to poor
implementation. "In other words, the problem is enforcement of the law,
not the law itself.Timely corrected measures by FBI and effective
oversight by the Justice Department in the congress will ensure
proper use of the important law." he said.
Members of the Judiciary Committee warned the FBI that it could lose
its expanded surveillance authority, if the bureau fails to correct its
mistakes. | 
