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January 10, 2008
Justice Dept: Don't Sweat FISA: Big Brother's Broke Anyway
Not to get too political about it, but there's something mildly amusing about an administration that panders to the "starve the beast" crowd, yet has a yen for establishing a surveillance state, having to drop wiretaps because it can't pay its phone bills on time:
"Telephone companies have cut off FBI wiretaps used to eavesdrop on suspected criminals because of the bureau's repeated failures to pay phone bills on time.
"A Justice Department audit released Thursday blamed the lost connections on the FBI's lax oversight of money used in undercover investigations. Poor supervision of the program also allowed one agent to steal $25,000, the audit said.
"In at least one case, a wiretap used in a Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act investigation 'was halted due to untimely payment,' the audit found. FISA wiretaps are used in the government's most sensitive and secretive criminal investigations, and allow eavesdropping on suspected terrorists or spies."
Mildly amusing if you think having to drop wiretaps on terrorists is funny, anyhow.
(Link)
Posted by mhall at 4:50 PM | Add Comment
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