FBI agents seeking phone records used 'startling' methods
By Carrie Johnson
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
FBI agents seeking telephone records demanded information from phone companies in a variety of "startling" and illicit methods, including e-mail and post-it notes, in an "egregious breakdown" of safeguards and oversight, the Justice Department's inspector general reported Wednesday.
The long-awaited investigative report describes numerous lapses by FBI agents seeking material through more than 700 emergency letters to phone service providers between 2002 and 2006, many of which did not involve real urgency, officials said.
One FBI agent interviewed in connection with the probe said the process became so casual that "it [was] like having an ATM in your living room," according to the report.
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, told lawmakers that the process had ended in 2006 and that officials were reviewing the report to determine whether any bureau employees should be disciplined for the lapses. Mueller pointed out that the phone records did not cover the content of calls but rather toll information.
(More here.)
Washington Post Staff Writer
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
FBI agents seeking telephone records demanded information from phone companies in a variety of "startling" and illicit methods, including e-mail and post-it notes, in an "egregious breakdown" of safeguards and oversight, the Justice Department's inspector general reported Wednesday.
The long-awaited investigative report describes numerous lapses by FBI agents seeking material through more than 700 emergency letters to phone service providers between 2002 and 2006, many of which did not involve real urgency, officials said.
One FBI agent interviewed in connection with the probe said the process became so casual that "it [was] like having an ATM in your living room," according to the report.
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III, testifying before the Senate Judiciary Committee Wednesday, told lawmakers that the process had ended in 2006 and that officials were reviewing the report to determine whether any bureau employees should be disciplined for the lapses. Mueller pointed out that the phone records did not cover the content of calls but rather toll information.
(More here.)
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