Recently, I finished reading the 288-page report by the DOJ’s Office of the Inspector General on the FBI’s illegal practices concerning phone records, faulty National Security Letters, and misleading applications to the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court (FISA Court) for electronic surveillance, physical searches and pen register and trace orders.
The devastating report details how FBI agents for years sought records from the 3 major telecommunication providers, referred to in the report as Company A, B, and C, by citing often non-existing emergencies and using misleading language. The Inspector General calls the FBI’s violations an “egregious breakdown,” pointing to the practice of making misstatements to the special FISA court about how sensitive information had been obtained. Specifically, the report finds that FBI personnel filed “inaccurate sworn declarations” with the FISA Court to the effect of stating to the court that the calling activity information was obtained in response to National Security Letters or grand jury subpoena when in fact the information was obtained by other means.
In addition, the report finds that the FBI used exigent letters to improperly obtain toll phone call information from Washington Post and New York Times reporters. The FBI failed to follow-up with a subpoena and did not obtain the required approval from the Attorney General.
Given that the report does not recommend taking legal action against those responsible for these egregious violations of the law, the question remains: Who will enforce the law on law enforcement?
