Posted December 16, 2005.

FBI E-Mails Show Frustration over Patriot Act Limits

Recently disclosed internal FBI e-mail messages reveal that some agents felt constrained by the difficulty of getting approval to use powers under the USA Patriot Act. The messages were turned over to the Electronic Privacy Information Center as part of a ruling in a lawsuit brought by the group seeking material under the Freedom of Information Act, the New York Times reported December 11.

One e-mail from October 2003 criticized the Department of Justice’s Office of Intelligence Policy and Review for blocking requests to use Section 215, which gives the authority to demand business records from institutions such as libraries and bookstores. “While radical militant librarians kick us around, true terrorists benefit from OIPR’s failure to let us use the tools given to us,” the message by an unnamed FBI official read. “This should be an OIPR priority!”

Another e-mail from May 2004, with the subject header “Miracles,” marked the DOJ’s approval of an FBI request for records under Section 215. “We got our first business record order signed today!” it read. “It only took two and a half years.”

“For all the hand-wringing over potential abuses of the Patriot Act, what these e-mails show is that it’s still fairly difficult to use these tools,” an anonymous DOJ senior official told the Times.

Posted December 16, 2005.