Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsSECRET RULES MAKE IT PRETTY EASY FOR THE FBI TO SPY ON JOURNALISTS
https://theintercept.com/2016/06/30/secret-rules-make-it-pretty-easy-for-the-fbi-to-spy-on-journalists/SECRET FBI RULES allow agents to obtain journalists phone records with approval from two internal officials far less oversight than under normal judicial procedures.
The classified rules, obtained by The Intercept and dating from 2013, govern the FBIs use of national security letters, which allow the bureau to obtain information about journalists calls without going to a judge or informing the news organization being targeted. They have previously been released only in heavily redacted form.
Media advocates said the documents show that the FBI imposes few constraints on itself when it bypasses the requirement to go to court and obtain subpoenas or search warrants before accessing journalists information.
The rules stipulate that obtaining a journalists records with a national security letter (or NSL) requires the signoff of the FBIs general counsel and the executive assistant director of the bureaus National Security Branch, in addition to the regular chain of approval. Generally speaking, there are a variety of FBI officials, including the agents in charge of field offices, who can sign off that an NSL is relevant to a national security investigation.
....
Why does it seem that the FBI is always trying to make an end run around the Constitution?
InfoView thread info, including edit history
TrashPut this thread in your Trash Can (My DU » Trash Can)
BookmarkAdd this thread to your Bookmarks (My DU » Bookmarks)
2 replies, 507 views
ShareGet links to this post and/or share on social media
AlertAlert this post for a rule violation
PowersThere are no powers you can use on this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
ReplyReply to this post
EditCannot edit other people's posts
Rec (0)
ReplyReply to this post
2 replies
= new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight:
NoneDon't highlight anything
5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
SECRET RULES MAKE IT PRETTY EASY FOR THE FBI TO SPY ON JOURNALISTS (Original Post)
askeptic
Jul 2016
OP
merrily
(45,251 posts)1. Government is allowed any secrets it wants; citizens are not allowed any secrets that
government decides they should not have.
Exactly as:citizens of a new nation that had just revolted against government intended when they insisted on a Bill of Rights before agreeing to a U.S. Constitution that gave even supposedly limited powers to a federal government.
randome
(34,845 posts)2. "...in addition to the regular chain of approval."
Interesting there is no explanation of what that is. It's such an empty sentence that it could even mean someone outside the FBI. But it doesn't sound like "few constraints" if multiple signatures are needed. Maybe more sign-offs are needed but the article doesn't bother to explain how many are needed now.
[hr][font color="blue"][center]Stop looking for heroes. BE one.[/center][/font][hr]