FBI Director Robert Mueller testified before the Senate today about his agency’s abuse of provisions of The Patriot Act. “Abuse” meaning of course that federal laws were broken.
…Mueller testified at the panel’s second hearing into a Justice Department inspector general’s report this month that revealed abuses in the FBI’s use of documents called national security letters to gather data.
Reviewing headquarters files and four of 56 FBI field offices, Inspector General Glenn Fine found 48 violations of law or presidential directives during 2003-2005. He estimates there may be up to 3,000 unidentified or unreported violations throughout the FBI.
Mueller said he had instituted procedures for issuing these letters. “What I did not do and should have done is put in a compliance program to be sure those procedures were followed,” he added.
…
Mueller said he had reduced such inaccuracies since learning of the problem in 2005 but noted that warrant applications are long and contain thousands of facts.
“I’m not impressed with your assertion that there are thousands of facts,” Specter said. “That’s your job. You asked for these powers; we gave you them. If these applications are wrong, you’re subjecting people to an invasion of privacy that ought not to be issued.”
Specter, a Republican, was correct in his assertion that Mueller’s FBI had violated the rights of the American people.
But what did other Republicans have to say?
Republican Sens. Jeff Sessions of Alabama and Orrin Hatch of Utah opposed altering the law to curb FBI authority. “You’ve acknowledged the problems and pledged to fix them,” Hatch said. “That’s what Congress and the American people need.”
“Pledged to fix them?” Didn’t Mueller “pledge” to follow the laws when he took over the FBI?
You’ve just got to laugh out loud when you read this stuff. These are the same Republicans that were in power when Clinton was president and they wouldn’t give him a break on anything. They were out to get him from day one and were ready and willing to impeach him on any charge they could find. They had to settle for a blow job.
They would have loved to have one of Clinton’s appointees testify before them and admit to how his department broke the laws. They would certainly not accept any “pledge” to “fix” the problem.
I say pin this on Mueller and Bush and impeach the whole lof of them. They don’t have any respect for laws–and they admit it! They are all a bunch of criminals.
Come on Democrats! Stop being so craven. Do what you swore to do when you took office–defend the Constitution and the rule of law. The survival of our Constitution depends on it. Impeach the entire Executive Branch.
Need a list of impeachable offenses besides the illegal intrusions into privacy that Mueller admitted to? Stephen Colbert listed all the offenses last week on his show and dared the Democrats to “buckle on your balls like men and impeach the president.” Watch it.
Well, on April 28th, there will be impeachment protests in towns and cities all over the country. And everywhere people will be using signs, their bodies, chalk, or anything else they can think of to spell out IMPEACH! Several cities have actions planned already, but we invite everybody to start thinking about the most creative, spectacular, beautiful, and clever ways they can come up with to spell it out. This is a spin-off of the BeachImpeach project on the shores of San Francisco where over 1,100 people spelled out “Impeach!” Find out what is going on in your town, or start your own project. Be a part of history and this media grabbing call to defend our Constitution through impeachment.
Find the pre-existing events here
Start your own action
Find out more
Impeach Bush Resources