FBI Response To Subpoena Rule Breaking? Remove Rules

The FBI is under scrutiny for asking phone companies for telephone records using fake emergency letters and then not following up with the required legal documents. In a pre-emptive response, the FBI halted the rule-breaking by telling agents that emergency letters no longer had to be followed up, according to this story yesterday from the Washington Post's John Solomon.

The new rules rely heavily on a provision of law that allows phone and internet companies turn over records to the government without legal liability if the companies believe there is an emergency. Civil liberties advocates say that provision was originally intended to allow phone companies to turn over records when they found a problem, but that law enforcement has long abused the loophole to get information without a subpoena.

New rules from the FBI general counsel's office tell agents they are to limit emergency requests for phone records to the most dire situations, in which the loss of life or bodily harm is believed to be imminent. They are to document carefully the circumstances surrounding the request.

Agents also have been relieved of a paperwork burden that was at the heart of past problems, officials said.

Under past procedures, agents sent "exigent circumstances letters" to phone companies, seeking toll records by asserting there was an emergency. Then they were expected to issue a grand jury subpoena or a "national security letter," which legally authorized the collection after the fact. Agents often did not follow up with that paperwork, the inspector general's investigation found.

The new instructions tell agents there is no need to follow up with national security letters or subpoenas. The agents are also told that the new letter template is the preferred method in emergencies but that they may make requests orally, with no paperwork sent to phone companies. Such oral requests have been made over the years in terrorism and kidnapping cases, officials said.

Hat Tip: Moon of Alabama via Glenn Greenwald Photo: rekha6