New FBI powers concern senators
WASHINGTON – Democratic senators expressed skepticism of new powers the Bush administration is seeking in federal terrorism investigations, including authority to read the outside of mailed envelopes and to subpoena records without judicial approval.
During a Senate Intelligence Committee hearing Tuesday about renewing and expanding the 2001 Patriot Act, FBI General Counsel Valerie Caproni said the bureau needs ways to get information faster in national security investigations.
One delay on the wrong case could be catastrophic, she said, but she didn’t offer specifics about where existing powers have been inadequate since the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Instead, she often leaned on hypothetical examples, frustrating Democrats.
“Can we show you a precise example of where, because of a delay, a bomb went off? We cannot,” Caproni said. “But could it happen tomorrow? It could.”
Portions of the Patriot Act – signed into law six weeks after the Sept. 11 attacks – are set to expire at the end of 2005. In drafting legislation to make those provisions permanent, Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Pat Roberts, R-Kan., is also working to expand the FBI’s authorities in terrorism and espionage cases.
Democrats, including the panel’s vice chairman, weren’t immediately sold.
“What is the problem with the Department of Justice’s and the FBI’s current authority?” asked Sen. Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia.
Roberts’ draft bill, which has not yet been formally introduced, was publicly distributed for the first time Tuesday. The intelligence panel plans to edit his legislation in closed session Thursday. Sen. Ron Wyden, D-Ore., asked Roberts to open the session to the public.
Other committees that will play a role in crafting the legislation have discussed whether to impose limits rather than expand the powers of the Patriot Act.
Following a proposal President Bush sought in 2003, Roberts’ draft bill calls for giving the FBI expanded subpoena power that would enable agents involved in terror investigations to obtain records, electronic data or other evidence without approval from a judge or grand jury.
Democrats and some privacy and civil-rights activists have questioned whether there will be enough checks on the bureau. Yet advocates counter that such subpoenas are available in certain types of criminal cases, including health care fraud and child pornography.
Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., is worried the new subpoena power will give the FBI “carte blanche” to go on fishing expeditions. Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., wanted to get a better sense of the scope of the problem now.
“We have no way of knowing whether these delays are extraordinarily unlikely or whether they happen all the time,” Bayh said. “Best I can tell here today, this is something you are prospectively concerned about.”