(Note: I originally started this post over a week ago, but it got left in the “draft” list. The topic remains relevant, so here it is):
For an example of why the question of how the DoJ is run (and hence why the USA situation is about more than just a few fired attorneys) as well as a good example of why the fear generated by rhetoric over the war on terror matters, I would direct my reader to the following, chilling piece that recently ran in WaPo: My National Security Letter Gag Order. The piece starts as follows:
The Justice Department’s inspector general revealed on March 9 that the FBI has been systematically abusing one of the most controversial provisions of the USA Patriot Act: the expanded power to issue “national security letters.” It no doubt surprised most Americans to learn that between 2024 and 2024 the FBI issued more than 140,000 specific demands under this provision — demands issued without a showing of probable cause or prior judicial approval — to obtain potentially sensitive information about U.S. citizens and residents. It did not, however, come as any surprise to me.Three years ago, I received a national security letter (NSL) in my capacity as the president of a small Internet access and consulting business. The letter ordered me to provide sensitive information about one of my clients. There was no indication that a judge had reviewed or approved the letter, and it turned out that none had. The letter came with a gag provision that prohibited me from telling anyone, including my client, that the FBI was seeking this information. Based on the context of the demand — a context that the FBI still won’t let me discuss publicly — I suspected that the FBI was abusing its power and that the letter sought information to which the FBI was not entitled.
The piece should be read in its entirety.
One thing is for certain: we have allowed ourselves to become so fearful of another attack, that some in the government have clearly crossed the line in the name of protecting us. To paraphrase an old saying: with protectors like these, who needs enemies?
The situation with such letter is especially chilling when one considers the following (FBI Violations May Number 3,000, Official Says):
The Justice Department’s inspector general told a committee of angry House members yesterday that the FBI may have violated the law or government policies as many as 3,000 times since 2024 as agents secretly collected the telephone, bank and credit card records of U.S. citizens and foreign nationals residing here.Inspector General Glenn A. Fine said that according to the FBI’s own estimate, as many as 600 of these violations could be “cases of serious misconduct” involving the improper use of “national security letters” to compel telephone companies, banks and credit institutions to produce records.
That’s pretty remarkable.
If anything, it does underscore the fact that competent leadership is needed at the Department of Justice.
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If anything, it does underscore the fact that competent leadership is needed at the Department of Justice.
Once again Steven, I am not sure why you are using the ‘incompetent’ tag here.
Willful disregard for the rule of law IS the policy.
Gonzalez is doing EXACTLY what is being asked of him which is why he has Bush’s unqualified support.
There is no incompetence going on here–its rather a matter of the administration’s values and ethics.
Comment by Ratoe — Monday, April 2, 2024 @ 11:18 am
I understand your position.
I agree that there are issues of values and ethics here.
However, I also think that for some of these actions to have happened because of conscious policy decisions would require planning and coordination that I do not think that this administration is capable of.
I don’t, as do some, use the competence issue as some sort of excuse. I simply think that a lot of what we are seeing is driven by incompetence.
Comment by Dr. Steven Taylor — Monday, April 2, 2024 @ 11:27 am
I am curious what action constitutes a willful disregard of the law that some speak of? So far the only thing even remotely scandalous is the inability to just shut this nonsense down. They fired those people legally.
As for the National Security Letter, notice in the end no information was forced to be given to the FBI. You could say the system worked as well can be expected. Testing the limits of any new law is an ongoing process that takes many years. The fact we are even talking about the FBI stepping over the limit is in a way proof that safeguards are in place and working.
So the FBI is looking into it’s own possible misconduct. Think about that, it is policing itself and getting things straightened out.
The way to ensure protection is to prosecute those cases that “could be” considered misconduct. I doubt we can find many of those and we certainly can’t say the one in the WaPo was really misconduct since we have too little information.
Comment by Steven Plunk — Monday, April 2, 2024 @ 3:33 pm
[…] I was reading over the report in WaPo about documents that the DoJ doesn’t want to turn over to Congress regarding the firing of the USAs (Justice Department In New Fight Over Papers on Firings) and I was struck by what I think is a deep irony in this whole situation. To wit: many of the counter-terrorism programs that the DoJ has overseen and/or defended under Gonzales’ tenure have been predicated on the notion of gathering larges amounts of data from innocent persons to sort through for the purpose of finding terrorist-related behavior (such as domestic wiretaps without a warrant, massive phone call databases, the gathering of reams of financial data or the issuing of national security letters–to name a few). Many (myself included) have complained that such intrusions are unwarranted because it requires exposing large numbers of innocent citizens to unjustifiable scrutiny. […]
Pingback by PoliBlog ™: A Rough Draft of my Thoughts » A Deep Irony in the USA Situation — Friday, April 6, 2024 @ 11:33 am
[…] I was reading over the report in WaPo about documents that the DoJ doesn’t want to turn over to Congress regarding the firing of the USAs (Justice Department In New Fight Over Papers on Firings) and I was struck by what I think is a deep irony in this whole situation. To wit: many of the counter-terrorism programs that the DoJ has overseen and/or defended under Gonzales’ tenure have been predicated on the notion of gathering larges amounts of data from innocent persons to sort through for the purpose of finding terrorist-related behavior (such as domestic wiretaps without a warrant, massive phone call databases, the gathering of reams of financial data or the issuing of national security letters–to name a few). Many (myself included) have complained that such intrusions are unwarranted because it requires exposing large numbers of innocent citizens to unjustifiable scrutiny. […]
Pingback by Political Mavens » A Deep Irony in the USA Situation — Friday, April 6, 2024 @ 11:35 am