WASHINGTON – 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.
Records also indicate the FBI has investigated hundreds of potential violations related to its use of secret surveillance operations, which have been stepped up dramatically in the wake of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks but are largely hidden from public view.
The records were provided to The Washington Post by the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), an advocacy group that has sued the Justice Department for records relating to the Patriot Act.
David Sobel, EPIC’s general counsel, said the new documents raise questions about the extent of possible misconduct in counterintelligence investigations and underscore the need for greater congressional oversight of clandestine surveillance within the United States.
FBI officials disagreed, saying that none of the cases has involved major violations and most amount to administrative errors. The officials also said any information obtained from improper searches or eavesdropping is quarantined and eventually destroyed.
Abramoff sought out Reed, papers say
Jack Abramoff, the GOP lobbyist under investigation by federal authorities for possible fraud, repeatedly sought the help of Bush strategist Ralph Reed to open doors at the White House for his business clients, according to e-mails made public Sunday. The e-mails show that Abramoff pushed for intervention from deputy White House chief of staff Karl Rove on at least three occasions since 2001 to promote business opportunities. Reed wrote back obliging responses, according to the e-mails obtained by Time magazine. The e-mails are now being reviewed by federal investigators, Time reported.
Ohio: Warning on caged children
Insurance agent Ed Clunk of Toledo said he warned child welfare officials that he saw cagelike beds in the home of 11 adopted special-needs children more than a year before authorities intervened. The children, ages 1 to 14, were taken from Michael and Sharen Gravelle’s home in Wakeman in September and placed in foster homes while authorities investigate why the couple put some of the children in homemade wooden cages to sleep and occasionally as punishment. No charges have been filed, and the couple denies harming the children.
Florida: Booze odor gets pilot ousted
A United Airlines pilot was removed from the cockpit Sunday before Flight 1404 to Washington, D.C., departed, and questioned by police after security screeners at Miami International Airport reported smelling alcohol, police said. The pilot was not arrested and no breath test was done, but the airline suspended him pending an investigation.
Kansas: Ready for Gorbachev visit
The school band in the small town of Lindsborg is practicing the Russian national anthem. Detectives are conducting security checks. And preparations are being made for a chess parade. It’s all for former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who will visit the home of the Karpov Chess School this weekend to launch a worldwide campaign of promoting peace through chess.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
