More Heat for the Justice Department
Attorney General Betito Gonzales can't be enjoying his prestigious position too much these days. The nation's newspapers and the blogworld have been filled with stories on the mass firings of eight US Attorneys for several weeks, and now a report from the Justice Department's own inspector general which is highly critical of the FBI's use of "Security Letters" has been leaked widely. From today's NY Times:
The Justice Department’s inspector general has prepared a scathing report criticizing how the F.B.I. uses a form of administrative subpoena to obtain thousands of telephone, business and financial records without prior judicial approval.
The report, expected to be issued on Friday, says that the bureau lacks sufficient controls to make sure the subpoenas, which do not require a judge’s prior approval, are properly issued and that it does not follow even some of the rules it does have.
...The report is said to conclude that the program lacks effective management, monitoring and reporting procedures, officials who have been briefed on its contents said.
Frankly, I don't think this comes as much of a surprise. The administration has made it quite clear that individual liberties aren't very important in this time of terror 24/7. For this White House, the US Constitution is just a piece of paper: quaint but irrelevant. Judicial oversight is passe.
What is surprising is that the mainstream media finally sees fit to report this kind of news.
Isn't it amazing what a little congressional push-back can accomplish?
The Justice Department’s inspector general has prepared a scathing report criticizing how the F.B.I. uses a form of administrative subpoena to obtain thousands of telephone, business and financial records without prior judicial approval.
The report, expected to be issued on Friday, says that the bureau lacks sufficient controls to make sure the subpoenas, which do not require a judge’s prior approval, are properly issued and that it does not follow even some of the rules it does have.
...The report is said to conclude that the program lacks effective management, monitoring and reporting procedures, officials who have been briefed on its contents said.
Frankly, I don't think this comes as much of a surprise. The administration has made it quite clear that individual liberties aren't very important in this time of terror 24/7. For this White House, the US Constitution is just a piece of paper: quaint but irrelevant. Judicial oversight is passe.
What is surprising is that the mainstream media finally sees fit to report this kind of news.
Isn't it amazing what a little congressional push-back can accomplish?
Labels: Justice Department
posted by Diane at 9:47 AM
1 Comments:
As I said to my husband about this business, now you know why we worked so hard last Fall to get Democrats in Congress. Is there anyone out there who believes that ANY of these scandals would be even reported if we didn't have a Democratic majority?
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