This is getting so not-newsworthy. But how can we not report the crumbling of an empire?
The FBI has conducted clandestine surveillance on some U.S. residents for as long as 18 months at a time without proper paperwork or oversight, according to previously classified documents to be released today.
The records were provided to The Washington Post by the Electronic Privacy Information Center, an advocacy group that has sued the Justice Department for records relating to the Patriot Act.
“Every investigator wants to make sure that their investigation is handled appropriately, because they’re not going to be allowed to keep information that they didn’t have the proper authority to obtain,” said one senior FBI official, who declined to be identified by name because of the ongoing litigation.
That’s like saying that no police officer would ever think of conducting an illegal search.
“The officials also said that any information obtained from improper searches or eavesdropping is quarantined and eventually destroyed.”
Eventually destroyed?! It should be destroyed immediately.
I usually save this one as one of my FPS responses; but, since I don’t recall mentioning it here before [I’ll use it, again, later] let me note how common corporate/FBI/sleazy cop work has been in the past.
It’s been over 30 years since a couple thousand friends and I sued our local phone company back in New England. And the city — and the local police department — and the FBI — for illegal wiretapping. We won.
Our lead attorney was so sharp. We took the class action against the phone company to trial, first — and won. Got a ruling that exempted them from individual damages; BUT, they had to finance the balance of the case.
At the end, the creeps all were found guilty and we received payments ranging from $1,000 to 6-7-figure settlements. The biggest going to that lead attorney who had several earlier cases bugged. Being the kind of guy he was — he gave the money away.
Please, don’t ever waste too much of my time telling me, “It can’t happen here!” It has. It probably will, again.
One of the most myopic defenses you hear for the Patriot Act goes something like this: “I haven’t been investigated. YOU haven’t been investigated. So why are you complaining? You should only be worried if you are a terrorist. You aren’t a terrorist, are you?” (Gag me with one of those gawd-awful ugly Rush Limbaugh ties.)
Whatever happened to the conservatives who believed in limits on the feds?
Remember them? They were very loud duing the Waco and Ruby Ridge era. I miss those guys.