WASHINGTON — Angry lawmakers on Friday threatened to amend the USA Patriot Act and limit the FBI's powers in the wake of a disclosure that agents had improperly obtained confidential records of people in the United States.
A scathing report issued Friday by the inspector general of the Justice Department found widespread problems in how the FBI has used a form of administrative subpoena -- known as a national security letter -- to gather phone, bank and credit information on thousands of citizens without court oversight.
The problems included the issuing of letters that circumvented Justice Department rules and regulations; in addition, the report found a record-keeping system in such disarray that annual reports to Congress substantially understated the number of subpoenas the FBI was issuing.
The inspector general also disclosed that the bureau had an unusual contract with three phone companies to provide call records and subscriber information without legal process.
The revelation was a major embarrassment for the FBI, which had vowed to use its investigative powers carefully when Congress reauthorized the Patriot Act last year.
National security letters do not require the approval of a judge, and have long been popular with law enforcement. The 2001 Patriot Act made them even easier to get in terrorism and espionage cases. The act also for the first time permitted FBI agents in the field to issue the letters; that authority had previously been reserved for officials at FBI headquarters.
FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III on Friday took responsibility for failing to establish an adequate monitoring system for the anti-terrorism measure. "How could this happen, who is accountable? And the answer to that is I am to be held accountable," Mueller said in a briefing with reporters. He cited problems with training and oversight of personnel, as well as the bureau audit system, and announced a number of steps to overhaul the process.
Mueller's boss, Atty. Gen. Alberto R. Gonzales, pointedly criticized the FBI and its director for falling down on the job.
"During the discussion of the reauthorization of the Patriot Act, I believed that the FBI was acting responsibly in using national security letters," Gonzales told a conference of privacy experts Friday. "Because of the good work of the IG, I've come to learn that I was wrong."
