FBI saw mortgage fraud early

Let me get this straight. The FDA knew the peanut plant in Georgia was finding salmonella in their peanut butter batches as early as 2007, and did nothing. Now we hear that the FBI knew that the mortgage industry was committing rampant fraud - the fraud that brought down our entire economy - and did nothing.

Was anyone [during the Bush Administration] doing anything?

And tell me again please, so that I can laugh... we were supposed to feel 'safe?' It appears the only terrorists we had to fear were of the white collar, domestic variety.

And yes -- they won.

From the Seattle PI:

FBI saw mortgage fraud early

By PAUL SHUKOVSKY
P-I REPORTER

The FBI was aware for years of "pervasive and growing" fraud in the mortgage industry that eventually contributed to America's financial meltdown, but did not take definitive action to stop it.

"It is clear that we had good intelligence on the mortgage-fraud schemes, the corrupt attorneys, the corrupt appraisers, the insider schemes," said a recently retired, high FBI official. Another retired top FBI official confirmed that such intelligence went back to 2002.

The problem, according to the two FBI retirees and several other current and former bureau colleagues, is that the bureau was stretched so thin that no one noticed when those lenders began packaging bad mortgages into bad securities.

"We knew that the mortgage-brokerage industry was corrupt," the first of the retired FBI officials told the Seattle P-I. "Where we would have gotten a sense of what was really going on was the point where the mortgage was sold knowing that it was a piece of dung and it would be turned into a security. But the agents with the expertise had been diverted to counterterrorism."

The FBI not only lacked the resources, but also never got the tips it needed from the banking regulatory agencies. The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Office of Thrift Supervision and the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency also failed to detect the securities issue, said the first retired FBI official.

Read more...

FBI Investigates Wall Street

Go Lou!

Mueller notes counteract Gonzo testimony

FBI Director Robert S. Mueller III handed over his notes pertaining to the Ashcroft bedside visit to the House Judiciary Commitee - and although they are highly redacted - meaning almost everything is crossed out - the items still visible are noteworthy.

For example... attendees at the meetings where the secret wiretapping program was discussed: the highest ranking official being... VP. I'm guessing we can be pretty sure who made that call. The question of the hour is whether Bush even knew many of the details of this program in the first place.

Mueller also backs up Comey's testimony that Ashcroft was in much worse shape than Gonzo admitted, and that Gonzo and Card were in fact badgering a very sick man.

From the Washington Post:

Mueller's description of Ashcroft's physical condition that night contrasts with testimony last month from Gonzales, who told the Senate Judiciary Committee that Ashcroft was "lucid" and "did most of the talking" during the brief visit. It also confirms an account of the episode by former deputy attorney general James B. Comey, who said Ashcroft told the two men he was not well enough to make decisions in the hospital.

"Saw AG," Mueller writes in his notes for 8:10 p.m. on March 10, 2004, only minutes after Gonzales and White House chief of staff Andrew H. Card Jr. had visited Ashcroft. "Janet Ashcroft in the room. AG in chair; is feeble, barely articulate, clearly stressed."

And of course... that Gonzo apparently lied under oath once again:

First thing to note. Mueller testified on July 26, contra Gonzales, that the legal dispute between Gonzales and Acting Attorney General Jim Comey that prompted the rush to Ashcroft's hospital room had to do with the program now known as the Terrorist Surveillance Program. (Gonzales insisted on July 24, as he had in testimony last year, that Comey objected to "other intelligence activities," not the TSP.) The surveillance program known as the TSP was but one component of a constellation of surveillance activities, even though Comey and others at the time of the March 2004 controversy considered the whole effort -- authorized under a single 2001 executive order -- to be a unitary enterprise. Now notice that all throughout Mueller's memo, he refers to "program" -- singular.

It is also almost unfathomable that Ashcroft - then the Attorney General - was kept mostly in the dark about the details of the program.


From TPMmuckracker:

According to FBI Director Robert Mueller's notes on the March 10, 2004 visit to Ashcroft's hospital room, Ashcroft told Andrew Card and Alberto Gonzales that "strict compartmentalization rules" by the White House prevented him from "obtaining the advice he needed" about the warrantless surveillance program. At first glance, I thought that meant that Ashcroft himself was prevented from knowing certain aspects of the program. Several commenters read it differently, and judged that Ashcroft was complaining that his key advisers were barred from information about the program that would inform Ashcroft about its legality. And today, the Washington Post backs them up, citing anonymous official sources.

This, however, seems like two sides of the same coin. If Ashcroft couldn't consult with senior legal advisers about Program X, the White House was essentially keeping Ashcroft -- and the Justice Department -- in the dark about the legal basis for the surveillance program, expecting him to simply bless the effort without asking too many questions. After all, Ashcroft's tenure showed a consistent deference to presidential prerogative -- most notably, when he warned the Senate about the Patriot Act that "those who scare peace-loving people with phantoms of lost liberty, my message is this: Your tactics only aid terrorists." If Ashcroft couldn't vet the program with his legal advisers, it's an open question about what he really "knew" about its legality. Sure enough, as soon as the program was opened to Ashcroft's deputy, Jim Comey, a longtime U.S. attorney and Justice official, Comey saw a program riddled with legal problems.

Ashcroft was never told...

Well no wonder he wouldn't sign off on the wiretapping program. The White House wouldn't even tell John Ashcroft what they were doing!

Wow - who knew? It appears that Ashcroft was never a Bushie: apparently he didn't have insider 'Bushie clearance.'

And so, because he wouldn't play the game and sign whatever piece of paper they put in front of him, Bush replaced Ashcroft with Gonzo. And Gonzo knew exactly what he was signing -- because he and Loo undoubtedly wrote it -- although now, of course, he doesn't recall...

I should have saved the 'banana republic' pic for this. Can we have Ashcroft back? Or better yet: can we have Comey? Why don't they impeach Gonzo and give us someone we KNOW is honest?

This from Matt Renner of truthout.org:

Notes from FBI Director Robert Mueller, released Thursday by Congress, revealed that Bush administration officials may have prevented Attorney General John Ashcroft from conducting a review of a spying program, while at the same time attempting to gain Ashcroft's approval of the program.

Former Counsel to the House of Representatives Stanley Brand said it is "unbelievable" that "the Attorney General of the United States was barred from getting information on a decision that the law required him to make." Brand said, "This notion that the President can seal himself off from his own Attorney General is ludicrous."

In May, former Deputy Attorney General James Comey told Congressional investigators that in March 2004 a standoff between the White House and the Justice Department ensued because Comey would not authorize a continuation of a warrantless wiretapping program instituted by the Bush administration. According to Comey's testimony, his refusal to reauthorize the spy program resulted in a street race between himself and two White House officials to the hospital, where then-White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales and President Bush's former Chief of Staff Andrew Card tried to coerce a barely conscious Ashcroft to approve the controversial eavesdropping program.

Mueller told Congress that he recorded and kept notes about this incident because of the extraordinary nature of this encounter.

According to his notes, Mueller arrived at the hospital at 7:40 p.m., 20 minutes after receiving a call from Comey saying that Gonzales and Card were en route to the hospital and requesting Mueller's presence in order to "witness the condition of the Attorney General." By the time Mueller arrived, Gonzales and Card had already left. Mueller's notes of the subsequent conversation between Comey, Ashcroft and Mueller reveal that the top law enforcement officer of the United States may have been prevented from reviewing the wiretapping program that had already been put in place by the president.

In his notes, Mueller says that Ashcroft "reviewed for Gonzales and Card the legal concerns relating to the program. The AG also told Gonzales and Card that he was barred from obtaining the advice he needed on the program by the strict compartmentalization rules of the White House."

John Conyers, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, called this new revelation "particularly disconcerting."

Gosh -- ya think?

I'm gonna be an informer!

At last... a return to the good old days of witch hunts!

The FBI has proposed building a network of U.S. informants; right here on our soil! This is great news, because you see -- I really need a job.

There are lots of suspicious people living all around me. That, and people I just don't like.

For example, everyone who tailgates in those freakin monster SUVs. On my list -- and like yesterday bozos! As of now, you're all terrorists!



From the ABC Blotter:

The FBI is taking cues from the CIA to recruit thousands of covert informants in the United States as part of a sprawling effort to boost its intelligence capabilities.

According to a recent unclassified report to Congress, the FBI expects its informants to provide secrets about possible terrorists and foreign spies, although some may also be expected to aid with criminal investigations, in the tradition of law enforcement confidential informants. The FBI did not respond to requests for comment on this story.

The FBI said the push was driven by a 2004 directive from President Bush ordering the bureau to improve its counterterrorism efforts by boosting its human intelligence capabilities.

Thank heavens for President Bush -- he's going to have us all watching for brown people among us, and of course those left-wing weenies that I don't like. Where do I sign up? I can't wait to be a spy! Do I get to wear a special badge? Can I carry a gun?

The aggressive push for more secret informants appears to be part of a new effort to grow its intelligence and counterterrorism efforts. Other recent proposals include expanding its collection and analysis of data on U.S. persons, retaining years' worth of Americans' phone records and even increasing so-called "black bag" secret entry operations.

It does look like I'm going to have some competition for a job, which is annoying. I was reading through the comments out on ABC's site... so many patriots stepping up to spy on their neighbors. I guess everyone is out of work these days.

Damn. I'll have to get to them before they get to me -- the early spy gets the terrorist!

Bravo! It's long overdue. It's about time we did something about poten tial terrorists and the left-wing apologists who want to "make-nice" with people who want to kill us.

Ha. I know where all of the left-wing apologists hang out brother... I'm gettin to em first!

WHERE IS THE SIGN UP SHEET? AND WHEN DO I REPORT FOR TRAINING?.............

First you need to learn to type in LOWER CASE, bozo...

I don't want to experience another 9/11. And most of all, I don't want my children to ever experience another 9/11. Let's not forget these people will stop at nothing to kill innocent Americans. The world has changed since 9/11. It will never be the same in the US. Do you think when we have a new president it's just going to go away back to pre-9/11. Don't be fools. Be smart, think safety for you and your family. Even if that means having informants among us. Folks, be happy, we won the OVARIAN lottery. We live in the greatest country on the Earth.

Now here's a patriot! Grr. Competition. That 'greatest country on the Earth' thing will impress the FBI recruiters. Gonna have to get some dirt on this guy, and fast.

Whats the big dillio... if ya aint doin nothin wrong you aint got nothin to worry about... pedal to medal dudes.

This guy sounds a little unhinged, dudes. Can't wait to have him looking in my window at night with a notebook.

Great! The lefties and the cowards are sure going to raise hell over this but every law-abiding citizen in this country should applaud this idea. There are too many goodie-twoshoes living in this country who do not full appreciate what this country stands for..Freedom and security for all its citizens. May God always protect our President, Mr. Bush..The democrats sure as hell do not want to protect us.

We want the freedom to be imprisoned! This guy gets it. Makes my eyes tear up with patriotic joy.

If anyone finds out where we can sign up, I'll do it for free.

Dammit! I ain't doin this for nuthin!

This is a good idea. Informants brought down the White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan in Mississippi after the Chanery-Goodman-Schwerner murders, and succesfully aided in the investigations into other heinous acts.
Of course, pro-terrorists and other cretins DO have something to fear. Patriots do not.

Ah, but who decides who is a 'cretin' and who is not? I'm signing up so I can make sure that 'decider' is me me me!

FBI abusing Patriot Act; Gonzo knew, lied AGAIN

First... you, in the FBI. Come on guys. Surely patriotism - and I mean real patriotism, not this bullshit 'Patriot Act' that only exists to terrorize the American populace - surely patriotism and the most basic ethics would have caused some of you to pause and think. Surely some of you in the FBI knew what you were doing was flat out wrong.

According to a recent AP article, you were/are mining our personal data right and left; for all sorts of investigations that were never authorized under the Patriot Act:

The FBI is gathering and sorting information about Americans to help search for potential terrorists, insurance cheats and crooked pharmacists, according to a government report obtained Tuesday. (excuse me... crooked pharmacists? Boy you must be desperate, because last I heard, pharmacists were the most respected professionals in health care. Oh wait... Big Pharma sent ya?)

Records about identity thefts, real estate transactions, motor vehicle accidents and complaints about Internet drug companies are being searched for common threads to aid law enforcement officials, the Justice Department said in a report to Congress on the agency's data-mining practices. (Anything on indignant bloggers yet?)

In addition, the report disclosed government plans to build a new database to assess the risk posed by people identified as potential or suspected terrorists. (I saw a science fiction movie about this once: identifying criminals before they actually commit any crimes. It was a movie! Fiction! I thought in this country we were innocent, at least until we did something. Originally there was something about actually being proven guilty...)

The chairman of the Senate committee that oversees the Justice Department said the database was "ripe for abuse." (Gee - ya think?) The American Civil Liberties Union immediately derided the quality of the information that could be used to score someone as a terror threat.

It appears the Electronic Frontier Foundation 'acquired' quite a few of your files, showing that you have been abusing your new Patriot Act powers to spy on us at will; for any and every reason imaginable. Crooked pharmacists? What on earth is a crooked pharmacist? Find any crooked insurance companies out there too? Didn't think so. Bet you weren't looking, were you? Thank God for Michael Moore: at least someone cares about us, and not just the corporate masters.

That Patriot Act abomination was supposed to have been about terrorists. It sure didn't take you long to find the loopholes, did it? But then perhaps it was about those loopholes all along. Suddenly you have the power to dig for anything you want; and these secret corporations can amass enormous databases on us - every one of us - keeping all sorts of private details that have nothing at all to do with terrorists, terrorist threats, or even danger.

This is illegal as all hell, patently un-American and outrageously unconstitutional. I don't need a law degree to see that, just an education.

These findings were, unfortunately, not surprising to critics of the Bureau's NSL power. Before the USA PATRIOT Act was passed in 2001, the FBI could unilaterally issue these demands only to obtain the records of suspected terrorists or spies. Under the changes made by the controversial anti-terrorism law, however, the FBI can now use NSLs to get telephone, Internet, financial, credit, and other personal records about anybody -- without any court approval -- as long as it believes the information could be “relevant” to an authorized terrorism or espionage investigation. (The House of Representatives is considering a bill that would add independent oversight to the NSL process, but the legislation hasn't moved since March.)

Here is my question, and I'd really like to know: aren't you guys Americans too? Didn't you go into the spying business with some sense of duty to country -- what the hell motivates you people?

I used to think you were working for us - the people. Now I see you are 'for sale' to whoever runs the partisan, power gig in Washington.

And I have to wonder... with all of this nosing around you have been doing, are you actually watching out for terrorists at all? Or was that all some bullshit line to get everyone to fall into an Orwellian lock-step?

Why would I trust you now? Why would I trust ANY of you, ever again? And have you no shame at all?

From the EFF Website:

On Friday, July 6, the FBI made its first disclosure of 1,138 pages of documents, all of which you can view here. (Please keep in mind that this is the first of many sets of documents we'll be receiving, so this material does not present a complete picture.) Here's what we've spotted that we think is most interesting so far.

More than 350 pages describing investigative missteps that the FBI considered disclosing to the Intelligence Oversight Board, which receives reports on intelligence gathering activities that violate guidelines, laws, or presidential orders. (See Parts 4, 5, and 6 of the FOIA documents, all PDFs.) These pages detail numerous NSL-related blunders -- most often agents making typographical errors that resulted in receipt of information about the wrong people, and ISPs handing over too much (or wrong) data to the FBI. The Bureau usually did not refer these matters to the Intelligence Oversight Board, often chalking them up to administrative errors or third-party mistakes. The FBI also decided against opening internal investigations into many of the incidents.

The FOIA documents show, however, that several cases were forwarded to the Board between April 2005 and February 2007. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales was copied on these referrals, despite congressional testimony in April 2005 that he was unaware of any civil liberties violations arising from the PATRIOT Act, and a March 2007 speech in which he claimed to be “upset” and "concerned" by the inspector general's findings.

Copies of more than 60 "exigent letters" [PDF] sent by FBI headquarters to three telecomunications companies. The inspector general determined that the FBI's use of these short form letters, which cryptically asked for telephone records because of unspecified "exigent circumstances," circumvented the law and violated FBI guidelines and policies.

A government proposal [PDF] to expand the NSL provision of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act written after the inspector general's report was released.

Various model NSLs, which give us a good sense of what the demands look like, and memos providing guidance on proper use of NSL authority. (See Parts 1 and 2 of the FOIA documents, both PDFs.)

First the CIA and their 'Family Jewels' and now you. Am I to completely distrust my government and every single agency's motives? Are you all completely compromised?

COME ON.

This is bullshit and you know it. At least make a pretense of looking for actual terrorists and leave the pharmacists alone. You might start by finding whoever it was that planted that military-grade anthrax in the mail sent to Senator Leahy. Yeah. That high grade anthrax that could only have been made... here, in the good ol USA.

Francis A. Boyle, an international law expert who worked under the first Bush Administration as a bioweapons advisor in the 1980s, has said that he is convinced the October 2001 anthrax attacks that killed five people were perpetrated from within the U.S. in order to push through the Patriot Act Bill:

"Senators Tom Daschle (D-South Dakota) and Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont) were holding it up because they realized what this would lead to. The first draft of the PATRIOT Act would have suspended the writ of habeas corpus [which protects citizens from unlawful imprisonment and guarantees due process of law]. Then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, come these anthrax attacks."

"At the time I myself did not know precisely what was going on, either with respect to September 11 or the anthrax attacks, but then the New York Times revealed the technology behind the letter to Senator Daschle. [The anthrax used was] a trillion spores per gram, [refined with] special electro-static treatment. This is superweapons-grade anthrax that even the United States government, in its openly proclaimed programs, had never developed before. So it was obvious to me that this was from a U.S. government lab. There is nowhere else you could have gotten that."

Is this totally crazy? Maybe. Maybe not. The guy seems to know his stuff. Who the hell knows - because no one ever found out who did it, and the outcome was awfully convenient. Are you investigating that? You might find out who the real terrorists are - that would be a terrific service to your country. We could use a few more heroes and a few less domestic attackers. 'We the people' are having a tough enough time these days without our government kicking us around the room.

And as for Gonzo... Congress, how long are you going to let this guy LIE IN YOUR FACE?

He knew about these FBI abuses all along, and once again, he lied to you! Get rid of him! He's a disgrace to the rule of law! This isn't partisan... this is obstruction of justice and lying under oath.

From the Washington Post:

As he sought to renew the USA Patriot Act two years ago, Attorney General Alberto R. Gonzales assured lawmakers that the FBI had not abused its potent new terrorism-fighting powers. "There has not been one verified case of civil liberties abuse," Gonzales told senators on April 27, 2005.

Six days earlier, the FBI sent Gonzales a copy of a report that said its agents had obtained personal information that they were not entitled to have. It was one of at least half a dozen reports of legal or procedural violations that Gonzales received in the three months before he made his statement to the Senate intelligence committee, according to internal FBI documents released under the Freedom of Information Act.

How many lies does this make - and under oath? Congress: are you going to do anything about this - ever? For Christ's sake - the entire DoJ is falling apart!

I now have zero confidence in the Executive, in Congress, in the DoJ, in the CIA or FBI, and I'm suspicious even of the Supreme Court (the justices seem suspicious of each other.)

BROKEN. The entire mess is broken. Will no one - will anyone - lift a finger to save our government from itself?

Bin Laden may have arranged family's US exit: FBI docs

Osama bin Laden may have chartered a plane that carried his family members and Saudi nationals out of the United States after the September 11, 2001 attacks, said FBI documents released Wednesday.

The papers, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, were made public by Judicial Watch, a Washington-based group that investigates government corruption.

One FBI document referred to a Ryan Air 727 airplane that departed Los Angeles International Airport on September 19, 2001, and was said to have carried Saudi nationals out of the United States.

"The plane was chartered either by the Saudi Arabian royal family or Osama bin Laden," according to the document, which was among 224 pages posted online.

Ah, I do remember that magical flight that whisked the Bin Laden family out of the country the day after the towers were attacked. And sure, I wondered mightily about it at the time. I wondered until I had smoke coming out of my ears.

Its not like we (the people) weren't already suspicious, you know. We were suspicious when we heard that this flight (while all other flights had been grounded) had actually been ordered from within the White House. And yes, we wondered why the hell no one was doing anything about it; like investigating.

And now we hear the flight was booked by either the Saudi Royal Family... or Bin Laden himself?

Excuse me for asking, but after a terrorist attack that has led to an almost complete rearrangement of our Constitution, do you mean to tell me that we let the Saudi government retrieve our best and most likely witnesses, and fly them out of the country? Who the hell is running this place?

As gnostic from Daily Kos noted, compare the FBI report with Senator Schumer's comments (about these flights) in 2004:

Senators seek clarification on bin Laden charter flight

A group of US senators has written to President George W Bush, asking for details of a charter flight out of the US two days after the September 11 attacks.

The flight was carrying 13 members of the bin Laden family out of the country.

Osama bin Laden is accused of masterminding the terrorist attacks on New York and Washington in 2001, which killed almost 3,000 people.

Democrat Senator Charles Schumer from the Senate Armed Services Committee, says evidence suggests the flight was organised by the White House, and he is one of the signatories on the letter asking for more information.

"It's awfully strange that on September 13th, the only plane that was allowed to fly was a plane with many high-ranking Saudi nationals, who might have known something about terrorism," he said.

"No-one has figured out why. No-one has figured out who gave the authorisation."

Senator Schumer says evidence suggests the former White House anti-terrorism chief, Richard Clarke, cleared the bin Ladens to leave the country.

"Dick Clarke has said they went through the list of names and they weren't, you know, on a terrorist list, but it sure would have been better to interrogate them while they were here," he said.

Ah, but its so much more fun to have torture camps... right Dick?

Here is the rest of gnostic's posting to Daily Kos; it's just too amazing to leave out:

Update: Here's the Judicial Watch link:

Judicial Watch Releases New FBI Documents: Osama bin Laden May Have Chartered Saudi Flight Out of U.S. after 9/11

Judicial Watch, the public interest group that investigates and prosecutes government corruption, today released new documents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") related to the "expeditious departure" of Saudi nationals, including members of the bin Laden family, from the United States following the 9/11 attacks. According to one of the formerly confidential documents, dated 9/21/2001, terrorist Osama bin Laden may have chartered one of the Saudi flights.

The document states: "ON 9/19/01, A 727 PLANE LEFT LAX, RYAN FLT #441 TO ORLANDO, FL W/ETA (estimated time of arrival) OF 4-5PM. THE PLANE WAS CHARTERED EITHER BY THE SAUDI ARABIAN ROYAL FAMILY OR OSAMA BIN LADEN...THE LA FBI SEARCHED THE PLANE [REDACTED] LUGGAGE, OF WHICH NOTHING UNUSUAL WAS FOUND." The plane was allowed to depart the United States after making four stops to pick up passengers, ultimately landing in Paris where all passengers disembarked on 9/20/01, according to the document.

Overall, the FBI’s most recent document production includes details of the six flights between 9/14 and 9/24 that evacuated Saudi royals and bin Laden family members. The documents also contain brief interview summaries and occasional notes from intelligence analysts concerning the cursory screening performed prior to the departures. According to the FBI documents, incredibly not a single Saudi national nor any of the bin Laden family members possessed any information of investigative value.

Another update: I thought this snippet appropriate to add to the narrative as well (HT to JeremyA):

September 13, 2001: Bush and Saudi Ambassador Hold Private Meeting

President Bush and Prince Bandar, the Saudi ambassador to the US, hold a private meeting in the White House. No aides or translators are present. Bandar is so close to the Bush family that he is nicknamed "Bandar Bush." Sen. Bob Graham (D) later will note that while neither Bush nor Bandar have disclosed what they discussed in the meeting, mere hours later, the first flights transporting Saudi royals and members of the bin Laden family are in the air. Over the next week, they will be taken to several gathering points, and then flown back to Saudi Arabia, apparently without first being properly interviewed by the FBI. Graham will say, "Richard Clarke, then the White House’s counterterrorism tsar, told me that he was approached by someone in the White House seeking approval for the departures. He did not remember who made the request... The remaining question is where in the White House the request originated, and how." Graham will imply that, ultimately, the request originated from this meeting between Bush and Bandar.

OK, my brain hurts. I don't want to think about 9/11 any more tonight. I can't keep all of these people straight, and can only hope that if there is a fire under all of this smoke, that Leahy and Waxman will sniff it out and go after it. Subpoenas please.


UPDATE: This from Larisa Alexandrovna, posted on Alternet blogs:

Furthermore, from the Judicial Watch Web site:

"According to the FBI documents, incredibly not a single Saudi national nor any of the bin Laden family members possessed any information of investigative value.

Moreover, the documents contain numerous errors and inconsistencies which call to question the thoroughness of the FBI's investigation of the Saudi flights. For example, on one document, the FBI claims to have interviewed 20 of 23 passengers on the Ryan International Airlines flight (commonly referred to as the "Bin Laden Family Flight"). On another document, the FBI claims to have interviewed 15 of 22 passengers on the same flight.

"Eight days after the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history, Osama bin Laden possibly charters a flight to whisk his family out of the country, and it's not worth more than a luggage search and a few brief interviews?" asked Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. "Clearly these documents prove the FBI conducted a slapdash investigation of these Saudi flights. We'll never know how many investigative leads were lost due to the FBI's lack of diligence."

But my favorite part of this whole FBI OBL farce is as follows:

"Incredibly, the FBI had previously redacted Osama bin Laden's name from the records in order "to protect privacy interests.""

At least this might finally explain a nagging problem I have had with the FBI's most wanted poster of OBL, which makes no mention of September 11, 2001 among the crimes OBL is wanted for:

"Usama Bin Laden is wanted in connection with the August 7, 1998, bombings of the United States Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya. These attacks killed over 200 people. In addition, Bin Laden is a suspect in other terrorist attacks throughout the world."

Who has been fired for these oversights and likely criminal negligence, at best? Anyone? Apparently no one needs to be, seeing as how the US media is busy chasing Paris Hilton in and out of jail. Perhaps the Senate should ask Alberto Gonzales on his next visit to Congress if he may have asked the FBI to back off looking into who authorized these flights, the OBL redaction in the FOIA document, and why the FBI's OBL wanted poster does not appear to be up to date? Did I mention that Judicial Watch is a Conservative watchdog?

While you are holding your breath, you can see the full FOIA files HERE.

Yeesh.

BREAKING: Update to FBI NSL abuse

File this under 'Spying on me pt VII?' (I've lost track)

It would seem our judges are swinging into action! It appears the Rovians didn't get past the prosecutor stage of their infiltration scheme, because we still have quite a few determined judges who still believe in upholding the Constitution (and if I may be so bold: THANK YOU and God bless you!)

From the EFF's website:

June 15, 2007
Judge Orders FBI to Release NSL Abuse Records

New Evidence of Misuse Prompts Immediate Response in EFF FOIA Lawsuit

Washington, D.C. - A judge ordered the FBI today to finally release agency records about its abuse of National Security Letters (NSLs) to collect Americans' personal information. The ruling came just a day after the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) urged the judge to immediately respond in its lawsuit over agency delays.

EFF sued the FBI in April for failing to respond to a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request about the misuse of NSLs as revealed in a Justice Department report. This week, more evidence of abuse was uncovered by the Washington Post, and EFF urged the judge Thursday to force the FBI to stop stalling the release of its records on the deeply flawed program.

"The reports we've seen so far about NSL abuse are just the tip of the iceberg," said EFF Staff Attorney Marcia Hofmann. "FBI officials told the Washington Post that there have likely been several thousand total instances of misuse. Americans deserve answers about this scandal and how the FBI has abused its power to spy on ordinary citizens."

Under the PATRIOT Act, the FBI can use NSLs to get private records about anyone's domestic phone calls, e-mails and financial transactions without any court approval -- as long as it claims the information could be relevant to a terrorism or espionage investigation. Without a judge's oversight, the law is ripe for the abuse that has been uncovered in these recent reports.

"The law itself is the source of the problem. It's time for Congress to repeal these expanded NSL powers and protect Americans from this abuse of authority," said Hofmann.

The judge's order requires the FBI to process 2500 pages of NSL-related records by July 5, and then 2500 pages every 30 days thereafter.

The judge's order

EFF's supplemental memo

Washington Post article on NSLs

Call me crazy or old-fashioned, but I just love seeing the law being enforced.

Spying on me, part... III? IV? V?

This time, from the Washington Post (if they're covering it, its a disaster:)

An internal FBI audit has found that the bureau potentially violated the law or agency rules more than 1,000 times while collecting data about domestic phone calls, e-mails and financial transactions in recent years, far more than was documented in a Justice Department report in March that ignited bipartisan congressional criticism.

Well isn't that special. Aren't I so very surprised. Like the Justice Department could ever be accused of telling the truth.

I wonder - has the FBI also been reduced to just another partisan arm of the Bush/Cheney/Rove RNC squad (like every other department of the Federal government?) I wonder what the chances are that this is not the case? I can't imagine that Rove Inc. would have overlooked the FBI, when seeding partisan yes-men throughout the ranks of government.

The new audit covers just 10 percent of the bureau's national security investigations since 2002, and so the mistakes in the FBI's domestic surveillance efforts probably number several thousand, bureau officials said in interviews. The earlier report found 22 violations in a much smaller sampling.

Between 2002 and 2006, the FBI identified 26 potential violations in its use of National Security Letters to gather phone, Internet and bank records without traditional warrants. A 2007 Justice Department report that sampled a small number of cases found 22 additional violations, raising the total to 48. That report prompted the FBI to review 10 percent of the cases since 2002. The number of potential violations found has now grown to more than 1,000 as a result of that review.

-- snip --

But two dozen of the newly-discovered violations involved agents' requests for information that U.S. law did not allow them to have, according to the audit results provided to The Washington Post. Only two such examples were identified earlier in the smaller sample.

Yeah. Probably just 1000 innocent mistakes in a tiny, 10% testing sample. Probably just a few FBI agents who don't understand the law or the Constitution. No partisan intent here, of course not, none whatsoever. There isn't any partisan intent anywhere else in our government.

I am so sick of the bullshit.

Is it my turn to scream 'PARTISAN' back at you, Mr. Lott and Mr. Stevens? Or can I simply throw the Constitution in your face and remind you of your oaths again? This isn't the Yankees vs. the Red Sox; this is our government, our laws, and our freedom on the auction block.

All partisan, all the time.

I'm wasting bandwidth even talking to you, but if we citizens don't scream -- who will? If you don't hear each other (mostly all rich guys in matching gray suits;) you surely won't care what I think. But I care about my country.

Jon Stewart was right; you don't listen to each other, and you don't even make sense. I watched the coverage of your hamstrung Gonzales vote-to-not-vote on C-Span, and felt like I was eavesdropping on a Country Club award dinner... or perhaps a roast. Of course you weren't all patting each other on the backs, oh no; you only pat members of your own party, then scream 'partisan!' at everyone on the other side of the aisle. Issues be damned. Law be damned.

Great governing, guys. Terrific job. And thank you! Little wonder that you can't get anything done, any bills passed. Maybe if you all vote to give yourselves a raise, or award yourselves new golf clubs, you can find some common ground at last.

But back to the real issue at hand; the one you obviously won't protect us from:

The change -- combined with national anxiety about another domestic terrorist event -- led to an explosive growth in the use of the (National Security) letters. More than 19,000 such letters were issued in 2005 seeking 47,000 pieces of information, mostly from telecommunications companies. But with this growth came abuse of the newly relaxed rules, a circumstance first revealed in the Justice Department's March report by Inspector General Glenn A. Fine.

Wait a minute... roll that truck back. The 'national anxiety about another domestic terrorist event?'

I felt no such anxiety. Did you ask me?

Oh sure, another terrorist attack may happen -- it is probably guaranteed now; now that we've rampaged through the Middle East, sowing destruction and anti-American sentiments like an angry bull in a china shop. But back when this all started after 9/11, and despite what your ditzy corporate media mouths were saying, not all of us were cowering under our beds. No sir.

Not one damn person asked me - an American citizen - if I was so terribly scared that I would give up my constitutional rights in the hope that next time (unlike last time, when the threats were received in advance) my government will intervene.

Here's the rub. Generations of Americans have faced 'danger' and 'fear' and 'insecurity,' and never once did they gut the Constitution. Not once!

Who are we to be so cowardly, so weak-kneed, and so swayed by our media's propaganda that we would ever consider giving up the very heart of what our ancestors fought and died to protect? No one asked me, and no one asked any other American citizen. The media said 'Americans are scared,' the President said 'I will make them safe;' and then proceeded to spy on us... not the terrorists. Us.

This isn't about terrorists, this is about power. The American people are not terrorists in their own homes and in their own country.

And yes I do take offense. And yes, I'm mad as hell.

You Senators who think of nothing but partisan name-calling: you have no idea what 'defending the Constitution from enemies foreign and domestic' means.

Does this all sound vaguely like a Keith Olbermann rant? Well I'm sick of reading things like this. And I'm sick of seeing that no one in Congress will do a damned thing to stop it.

I have spent many hours of my life reading about historic struggles in our past, and admiring those who stood up for me -- before I was even born. Imagine my disgust at you, my Senators, when you can't even differentiate between the law and selfish, party interests.

You are no one's representatives. You have betrayed us all. If that isn't worth a little rant... what is?

UPDATE: Appears at least someone in the House is angry too:

The Democratic Chairman of the House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties expressed outrage at a report about how FBI agents possibly violated a surveillance law over and over again while misusing the National Security Letter (NSL) authority vastly expanded by the Patriot Act.

-- snip --

In a press release sent to RAW STORY, New York Congressman Jerrold Nadler, who also co-chairs the bipartisan Patriot Act Reform Caucus stated, "Today's reports only heighten the clear need for fixes to the NSL authority. The Justice Department's Inspector General previously found wide-spread abuses of the FBI's authority to issue NSLs - we now know that the problems go much further than initially disclosed. From the beginning, I have said that unchecked power would lead to rampant abuse. It's clear, yet again, that reforms are needed."

"These abuses by the DOJ and FBI have proven that legislative fixes are necessary," Nadler continued. "In the coming weeks, I plan on holding continued oversight hearings on the NSL authority as part of a series of hearing entitled, 'The Constitution in Crisis: The State of Civil Liberties in America.' I will also work with my colleagues to consider and craft legislation that would place adequate checks on the FBI's investigatory power."

Nadler added, "The new FBI guidelines regarding the use of NSLs fall far short of protecting the privacy of innocent Americans. It is not enough to mandate that the FBI fix internal management problems and record keeping, because the statute itself authorizes the unchecked collection of information on innocent Americans."