Mueller Cites FBI Abuse Of Subpoenas
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WASHINGTON — FBI Director Robert Mueller told senators yesterday that agents improperly used a type of administrative subpoena to obtain personal data about Americans until internal reforms were enacted last year.
Mr. Mueller said a forthcoming report from the Justice Department’s inspector general will find that abuses recurred in the agency’s use of national security letters in 2006, echoing similar problems to those identified in earlier audits.
Inspector General Glenn Fine reported a year ago that the FBI used such letters — which are not subject to a court’s review — to improperly obtain telephone logs, banking records, and other personal records of thousands of Americans between 2003 and 2005. An internal FBI audit also found that the bureau potentially violated laws or agency rules more than 1,000 times in such cases.
Mr. Mueller testified that a follow-up report from Mr. Fine’s office, due to be released this month, will “identify issues similar to those in the report issued last March.” But Mr. Mueller emphasized that the time frame in the report “predates the reforms we now have in place” to avoid further abuses.
At yesterday’s hearing, Senate Judiciary chairman, Patrick Leahy, a Democrat of Vermont, condemned the FBI’s “widespread illegal and improper use of national security letters,” and urged Mr. Mueller to be more attentive to the problem.
“Everybody wants to stop terrorists,” Mr. Leahy said. “But we also, though, as Americans, we believe in our privacy rights and we want those protected.”
A year ago, lawmakers of both parties called for limits on the FBI’s use of the security letters, which demand consumer information from banks, credit card companies, and other institutions without a warrant as part of investigations into suspected counterterrorism and espionage.
Congress has not followed through with legislation, however, and Mr. Mueller sought to assure lawmakers that internal changes will solve the problems. He said new FBI procedures will “minimize the chance of future lapses,” including the creation of a compliance office tasked with monitoring the use of security letters.
