I was hoping that smintheus's front page post (The FBI: Retroactive blanket immunity in action) would have touched on this aspect of the story, but surprisingly there has been no discussion of the implications of the FBI General Counsel's disagreement with the FISA court about the First Amendment. The court said that someone can not be investigated merely because they are associates with an existing subject of an investigation, because that would violate the First Amendment right to freedom of association. The FBI illegally circumvented the court's decision, and in defending that decision, the FBI admitted that violating the right to freedom of association is a common practice. The following is from the AP story:
Justice Department Inspector General Glenn A. Fine reported that in one case FBI anti-terrorism agents circumvented a federal court which twice had refused a warrant for personal records because the judges believed the agents were investigating conduct protected by the First Amendment. Fine said the agents got the records using national security letters, which do not require a judge's approval, without altering or re-examining the basis of their suspicions — the target's association with others under investigation....
The Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Court, which meets in secret, twice denied the FBI's request for a warrant under section 215 of the Patriot Act for business records about a target "based on concerns that the investigation was premised on protected First Amendment activity," Fine said. So without altering the basis of its investigation, the bureau got the same records without a warrant using national security letters.
FBI General Counsel Valerie Caproni told Fine "she disagreed with the court" and the NSLs were appropriate. "She stated the FBI would have to close numerous investigations if it was not permitted to investigate individuals based on their contact with other subjects of FBI investigations," Fine said.
So there you have it. The top lawyer for the top law enforcement agency in the country is saying that they only enforce the laws that they want to, and they disregard the Constitution when convenient.
My questions to the DailyKos community are: (1) Who should we ask to try to expose the number of these investigations? (2) Who should we ask to try to do something about them?